Lukashenko re-elected for seventh term – exit polls

Derided in the West as a dictator, the Belarusian president has said his leadership brings “stability and security”.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has won a seventh term in office, extending his three-decade rule of the former Soviet republic for another five years, exit polls have indicated after the country’s election on Sunday.

Competing against four other candidates, Lukashenko won 87.6% of the vote, according to exit polls released by Belarusian state media after voting closed. None of the other candidates won more than 5%.

If confirmed, the result ensures that Lukashenko will remain in power until 2030. Belarus’ first and only post-independence leader, Lukashenko has led the country since 1994, serving six consecutive terms in office.

Lukashenko faced a storm of international criticism after he was last elected in 2020, with Western nations accusing the country’s long-term leader of electoral fraud, which he denied. Widespread protests broke out after the election, and pro-Western opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya continues to insist that she was the rightful winner, referring to herself as Belarus’ “elected president” while engaging with Western governments.

Western media outlets frequently refer to Lukashenko as a dictator. In November, he acknowledged the existence of a dictatorship in Belarus, calling it one of “stability, security, order, kindness, and hospitality.” Lukashenko previously stressed the need for a dignified electoral process, avoiding what he described as an “American-style show” that led to violence in the US last year. He stressed that it is crucial for the election to be conducted properly to prevent criticism.

Belarus has been a strategic partner of Russia since 1999, with the two countries strengthening their alliance since the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022. Last year, Moscow and Minsk finalized a security treaty responding to the US military buildup across Europe. The agreement includes plans to station Russia’s new Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic missile systems in Belarus by 2025.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Lukashenko said that the missiles will be deployed on Belarusian soil “any day now,” adding that “one Oreshnik is enough to protect Belarus.”