European Union committing to provisionally suspend Belarus sanctions

The West has long ostracized Lukashenko’s Belarus, described in 2005 by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as “Europe’s last dictatorship”, over its human rights record and lack of tolerance for political dissent.

Lukashenko said he was prepared to introduce economic reforms if the Belarusian people were prepared for the difficulties they would bring.

But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised the stakes for strong-handed leaders in neighboring countries such as Mr. Lukashenko, who have sought to balance ties between Russian Federation and the West while extracting maximum financial support from Moscow.

Lidia Yermoshina, chairwoman of the Belarusian Central Election Commission, said Mr Lukashenko garnered 83.5 per cent in Sunday’s vote.

The vote was being closely watched by the European Union, with officials indicating the bloc was ready to lift sanctions against the authoritarian leader, regularly accused of rights abuses, if the aftermath of the polls remains incident-free. Harstedt also said Belarusian authorities created “an uneven playing field for campaigning” blurring the line between Lukashenko’s candidacy and the interests of the state.

About 100 opposition supporters held a protest march after polls closed to show their discontentment, but the demonstration ended peacefully.

He noted the official result – that Lukashenko won with 84 percent on a turnout of 87 percent – has “little to do with reality”.

For those who supported Lukashenko’s reelection, many were motivated by the authoritative leader’s promise of “peace and stability” in Belarus at a time when the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and a struggling economy at home have put Belarusians on edge.

The Belarussian constitution has a minimum age requirement of 35 as for a president, meaning if Nikola is being groomed to take over from his father; Mr Lukashenko is planning to rule for another 25 years before his young sons is eligible.

Opposition leader Mikola Statkevich, who was pardoned in August after spending five years in jail, told the AFP news agency: “If they [the EU] are together with this murderer, this criminal, then democracy is just words”. But it looks that the people who are called the opposition now do not understand the responsibility incumbent upon them.

“We know one thing: With Lukashenko in power, the situation will never change”, he said. The sign reads “Lukashenko, go away!” In September, President Vladimir Putin approved a plan to build an airbase in Belarus, but early this month Lukashenko said his country had no need for such a base, appearing to bow to public protests on the eve of the election. His disputed win in the 2010 presidential vote prompted massive street riots, however.