West cries foul over Belarus election as Lukashenko eyes seventh term

By Mark Trevelyan

(Reuters) - Belarusians voted on Sunday in an election that was set to hand another five years in power to President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Russia's war in Ukraine has bound the two leaders together more tightly than ever, with Lukashenko offering his country as a launchpad for Putin's 2022 invasion and agreeing the following year to let Moscow place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

It has left the 70-year-old Lukashenko - already shunned and sanctioned by the West before the war started - even more isolated than before.

The United States and the European Union both said in the run-up to Sunday's vote that it could not be free and fair because independent media are banned in Belarus and all leading opposition figures have been jailed or forced to flee abroad.

"This is a blatant affront to democracy," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas posted on social media, describing the vote as a sham. Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said Lukashenko was engineering his re-election as part of a "ritual for dictators".

The former Soviet farm boss says it is the people who have chosen to keep him in power since 1994. He pledged at a rally on Friday to deliver justice, security and a "sea of opportunities".

He faces four other candidates, none of whom have mounted any serious challenge or criticism. A total of 6.9 million people were registered to cast their ballots before voting ends at 1700 GMT.

WARNING TO 'ENEMIES'

Despite saying he was too busy to pay attention to the campaign, Lukashenko delivered a sweetener to voters in the final days by raising pensions by 10% from next month.

At Friday's rally, he promised there would be no repeat of 2020, when mass protests nearly swept him from power after Western governments backed the opposition's assertion that he falsified the results and stole victory from its candidate, Tsikhanouskaya.

"We very nearly destroyed ourselves, let's be open about this," Lukashenko said. "And all our opponents and enemies must understand: do not hope - we will never repeat what happened in 2020."

Lukashenko used his security apparatus to crush the demonstrations that year, arresting tens of thousands of people. Human rights group Viasna, which is banned as an "extremist" organisation, says there are still some 1,250 political prisoners, even after he pardoned over 250 in the past year.

Lukashenko denies there are any political prisoners. The authorities say those pardoned were convicted extremists who were freed on humanitarian grounds.

Political analysts say Lukashenko is hoping to use the prisoner releases to try to repair relations with the West. His efforts have become more urgent, they say, as he contemplates the likelihood of peace talks on Ukraine this year and tries to secure gains for himself and Belarus if the war comes to an end.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Gray in Brussels; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)