The Central Electoral Commission of Belarus officially announced the victory of Alexander Lukashenko in the recent presidential elections with 86.82% of the votes. Lukashenko thus begins his seventh consecutive term as president, a position he has held since July 1994.
The second place in the elections was occupied by Sergei Syrankov, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, with 3.21% of the votes, followed by Oleg Gaidukevich, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, with 2.02%. Anna Kanopatskaya and Alexander Khizhnyak came in fourth and fifth place respectively, with 1.86% and 1.74% of the votes.
The presidential elections took place on January 26 and had a turnout of 85.69% of the electorate. According to local legislation, the presidential candidate who receives more than 50% of the votes is declared the winner.
While the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand labeled the elections as "fraudulent," countries like Russia, China, Iran, and others expressed their congratulations to Lukashenko on his victory.
