Aleksander Lukashenko has won a fifth term as president of Belarus with a victory that could ease relations with the West and raise questions about his ties to Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Lukashenko won 83.5% of the vote, the Central election commission said, 3.5% more than in the 2010 elections. Turnout was 86.75%, the commission added.
No veteran opposition leaders stood as they were not allowed to register. They said that the vote would not be free or fair. Dozens of opposition supporters held a protest march in the capital Minsk after the polls closed.
Relations with Moscow have shown signs of strain. In September, Vladimir Putin approved a plan to build an airbase in Belarus, but Lukashenko said his country had no need for such a base.
The EU will lift its sanctions on Belarus, including those on Lukashenko, for four months after the vote, diplomatic sources reported last week.