Voting started following a period of almost non-existent election fever. In the capital Minsk, there’s an almost total absence of billboards promoting the candidates and there has been little in the way of campaigning.

The EU's top diplomat said Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who is certain to win a seventh presidential term in Sunday's election after barring most opponents, "doesn't have any legitimacy".

The 70-year-old has led the eastern European country for almost all of its post-Soviet history. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The outcome of the 2025 presidential election is not in doubt. Alexander Lukashenko, once dubbed "Europe's last dictator," who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for more than 30 years, will be declared the winner and secure a seventh term in office.

Some 13,000 border guards and soldiers protect around 400 kilometers (250 miles) of border. It’s become a buffer zone since Belarus’ ally, Russia, invaded neighboring Ukraine three years ago. Similar fortifications farther north line Poland’s frontier with the Russian region of Kaliningrad.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus has obtained a pre-prepared EU statement on the outcomes of Belarus' presidential election, MFA representative Anatoly Glaz told journalists at a briefing, BelTA reports.

Belarus under Lukashenko has become embroiled in the battle between NATO-backed Western Europe and Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Meanwhile, Belarus’ record on human rights – and its complicity in Russia’s war in Ukraine – have led to extensive sanctions and diplomatic isolation of the Eastern European nation, worsening the life of its people.

Belarus will hold a presidential election that will almost certainly give authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka a seventh term in power. Belarus's opposition has been gutted and citizens are fearful of another brutal crackdown.

Irregular crossings into EU from eastern borders more than triple in 2024, Frontex reports. Belarusian state TV airs a propaganda film with jailed journalists, attempting to discredit their ...

It is known that the EP resolutions on foreign policy issues are of a recommendatory nature and are not binding for the EU institutions or member states.

EU and international agencies that work with ... Stasiulewicz said those who force their way in “are sent back to Belarus, which is in line with our legal framework.” The Norwegian Refugee ...