The European Union will not lift sanctions against the government of Belarus's autocrat Alexander Lukashenko following the country's "sham" presidential elections, the bloc's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Sunday.

Many Western leaders are decrying Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election victory Sunday, calling it a sham along with the country's opposition.

Alexander Lukashenko is projected to win Belarus's presidency with 87.6% of the vote, amid Western critics labeling the elections a 'sham'. Despite past protests and accusations of election rigging, Lukashenko persists in power,

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has called the presidential "elections" in Belarus an affront to democracy and does not recognise the legitimacy of Alexander Lukashenko. Source: Kaja Kallas on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda Details ...

Long-time leader of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, once dubbed "Europe's last dictator", arrived to cast his ballot. Then, while Belarusians were still voting, candidate Lukashenko gave a four-and-a-half hour press conference live on state TV.

Longtime Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko won a “sham” presidential election ... Tomorrow, he’ll reappoint himself in yet another sham election,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on the eve of the vote on X.

Belarus’s autocrat Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994 ... The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Sunday the bloc will not lift sanctions against Lukashenko’s government.

Despite Western disapproval, Belarusian President Lukashenko prioritizes the recognition of elections by the Belarusian people over international recognition.

Five years after widespread protests tried and failed to topple Alexander Lukashenko, he has once again been re-elected as President of Belarus. According to the official result, Lukashenko received a resounding victory with 87 percent of the vote. But no one really believes it.

Belarus on Sunday held an orchestrated election virtually guaranteed to give its 70-year-old autocrat, Alexander Lukashenko, yet another presidential term on top of his three decades in power.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has stated that the so-called presidential "elections" in Belarus on 26 January 2025 do not meet international standards and that there are no grounds to recognise Alexander Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus.