Belarusians go to the polls today in a vote expected to re-elect Alexander Lukashenko, who in his 30 years in power has eliminated all opposition and aligned his country with Moscow to the point of facilitating Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The polls opened at 7:00 a.m. Greek time.

With this presidential election, 70-year-old Lukashenko expects to give himself a seventh consecutive five-year term as head of this former Soviet republic that borders the European Union, Ukraine and Russia.

His critics and human rights groups have already called the election rigged. For their part, MEPs have called for the results not to be recognized, especially since the previous elections in 2020 were followed by a merciless crackdown on an unprecedented protest movement.

The head of European diplomacy, Kaya Kalas, said yesterday, Saturday, that Lukashenko “has no legitimacy”. “He will nominate himself again in a new election masquerade. It is an insult to democracy,” he added on the X platform.

In the small village of Gubitsy, in southeastern Belarus, 42-year-old Alexei made no secret of his intentions on Friday: “I will vote for Lukashenko, because since he became president (in 1994) things have improved.”

This 42-year-old farmer works on a farm, like the former Belarusian leader, and says he earns around 300 euros a month selling milk.

For the future, “I would like my children to be able to have a good education,” he tells AFP, and “no war.”

In an interview with AFP in early January, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, head of the exiled opposition and a candidate against Lukashenko in 2020, denounced a “sham” election in a climate of terror.

Lukashenko, in his usual belligerent style, warned his rivals on Friday on national television: “We will never repeat what happened in 2020,” when tens of thousands of Belarusians took to the streets to denounce a rigged presidential election. .

With the support of his Russian ally Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko has been able to consolidate his power with arrests, violence and long prison terms targeting opponents, journalists, MCO workers and ordinary protesters.

According to the UN, at least 300,000 Belarusians, out of a population of nine million, have left the country for political reasons, mostly to Poland.

To punish the crackdown, the West imposed heavy sanctions on Belarus, prompting Alexander Lukashenko to accelerate his rapprochement with the Kremlin, abandoning his role as a balancer between Moscow and the West.

Proof of this alliance: Belarusian territory was used as a rearguard base for Vladimir Putin’s forces in February 2022 to invade Ukraine. And Moscow deployed there in the summer of 2023 tactical nuclear weapons, a threat to Kiev but also to NATO members bordering Belarus (Lithuania, Latvia, Poland).

Lukashenko, who likes to be seen in military uniform, behind the wheel of a tractor or with a gun in hand, has cast himself as a bulwark against the chaos of war in Ukraine, asserting that his country “does not want to fight”.

This man with the imposing mustache also likes to tour the factories. A former manager of a livestock collective, also known for his macho style, he prides himself on maintaining a statist economy, with the majority of industries and agricultural holdings remaining under state control.

In a recent visit, he said he was not at all interested in participating in electoral public debates: “This is not the time for public debate,” he said, while four candidates, hand-picked by the authorities, have been reduced to a puppet role.

Human rights groups estimate that the country still has more than 1,000 political prisoners held in harsh conditions, often without access to lawyers or contact with their relatives.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, whose husband Sergei Tikhanovksi is imprisoned and banned from communication, however called on Belarusians not to demonstrate for the elections, estimating that “repression” will be even stronger.

“The moment will come, that’s for sure, and people must remain ready to take action” when that opportunity arises, he insisted, speaking to AFP.