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The European Union and the United States said they do not recognize Alexander Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus.
EU diplomatic chief Josep Borell said on Thursday that the results of the August presidential elections and Lukashenko’s inauguration this week lacked democratic legitimacy.
“The European Union does not recognize their falsified results. On this basis, the so-called ‘inauguration’ of September 23, 2020 and the new mandate claimed by Aleksander Lukashenko lack democratic legitimacy,” Borrell said.
The United States announced Wednesday night that it no longer considers Lukashenko the legitimate president of Belarus, hours after he was officially sworn in for a seventh term.
“The United States cannot regard Aleksandr Lukashenko as the legitimately elected leader of Belarus,” a State Department spokesman said in a statement.
“The way forward must be a national dialogue that leads the Belarusian people to enjoy their right to choose their leaders in free and fair elections under independent observation,” the statement said.
Several other western states also refused to recognize Lukashenko’s legitimacy as president.
Lukashenko’s swearing-in ceremony took place at the Independence Palace in the capital Minsk, the presidential press office said in a statement.
After the ceremony, he said that Belarusians not only re-elected their president, but “defended peaceful life and sovereignty in Belarus.”
Lukashenko has ruled Belarus, a former Soviet nation of 9.5 million, with an iron fist for 26 years. The official results of the presidential elections on August 9 in the country made him win 80% of the votes. His strongest opponent, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, got 10%.
Anti-Lukashenko protests have rocked the country daily since the elections, and the largest demonstrations in Minsk drew as many as 200,000 people. In the first three days of the protests, the police used tear gas, batons and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. Several protesters were killed, many were injured and more than 7,000 were arrested.
