Belarus re-elects ‘last dictator in Europe’ for fifth term as Lukashenko eyes closer ties with West

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko won a fifth term in office by a landslide on Sunday in an election that could see an easing of relations with the West and raise questions about his ties to Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Lukashenko’s re-election five years ago led to mass protests and the imprisonment of leading opposition figures, but support for his 20-year-old regime has risen since he cast himself as a guarantor of stability in the face of an economic crisis and a pro-Russian separatist conflict in neighbouring Ukraine.

The West has long ostracised Lukashenko’s Belarus, described in 2005 by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as “Europe's last dictatorship”, over its human rights record and clampdown on political dissent. It has imposed economic sanctions on some Belarusian officials and companies.

Nevertheless, his criticism of Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula last year, his hosting of Ukraine peace talks and his pardoning of the six opposition leaders in August suggest he is seeking to improve his image in the West, observers say.

“We have carried out everything the West wanted on the eve of the elections. If there is a desire in the West to improve our relations, nobody and nothing can prevent that,” Lukashenko said as he cast his vote. “The ball is now firmly in the West's court,” he said.

The central election commission said Lukashenko won 83.5 per cent of the vote, slightly more than the 80 per cent support registered in the 2010 elections, the head of the central election commission said in a briefing late on Sunday.

Around 6.5 per cent voted against all candidates on the ballot, according to the commission.