Belarus opposition and western leaders denounce stage-managed Lukashenko victory

Lukashenko wouldn’t want his regime to be left out if some sort of detente starts in the region,

Shraibman said

What in the democratic world you call elections has nothing in common with this event in Belarus,

Tsikhanouskaya said

Alexander Lukashenkopresident

You’re just putting your people at risk,

Lukashenko said, addressing the opposition in exile

We will see light at the end of the tunnel this year,

he said

It's just a country with the illusion of choice,

22-year-old student Aliaxandra said

If it is prison then it's those who opened their mouths too widely,

he added

Lukashenko's interim goal is to use the election to confirm his legitimacy and try to overcome his isolation in order to at least start a conversation with the West about easing sanctions,

Shraybman said

The successor issue only becomes relevant when a leader prepares to step down. But Lukashenko isn’t going to leave,

Karbalevich said

Kaja KallaseU foreign policy chief

Today’s sham election in Belarus has been neither free, nor fair,

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos said in a joint statement

The main thing for me is that Belarusians recognize these elections and that they end peacefully, as they began,

he said

In any state you have to take responsibility if you break the law. The law is severe, but it's the law,

Lukashenko said

I don't give a damn about the West,

he said

Some chose prison, some chose 'exile', as you say. We didn't kick anyone out of the country

he told a marathon press conference lasting more than four hours and 20 minutes

Alexander Lukashenkopresident

The people of Belarus had no choice. Instead of free and fair elections and a life without fear and arbitrariness, they experience oppression, repression and human rights violations on a daily basis,

she said, ahead of exit polls that showed Lukashenko winning 87.6% of the vote

I do not regret anything,

he said in response to a question from AFP, during an often rambling press conference with international media that ran over four hours

I’m totally against a woman doing this job. A woman can’t be a dictator but we have quite a few men who could be leaders,

he said

Alexander Lukashenkopresident

They say: ‘He is about to die, his voice is not the same, he has trouble speaking.’ Don’t hold your breath,

Lukashenko said

We’re asking those forced to take part in this sham election to vote against all candidates,

she wrote on Telegram

As long as I have health, I will stay with you,

he said during a visit to a church outside Minsk earlier this month

Repression is born of weakness, not strength. The unprecedented measures to stifle any opposition make it clear that the Lukashenko regime fears its own people,

the State Department said last week