Belarus: Lukashenka’s “Inauguration” Lacks Democratic Legitimacy, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry Says

Ukraine does not consider Alexander Lukashenka the legitimate president of Belarus. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba made such an official position public in his Twitter post,

“Given the course of the election campaign in Belarus and subsequent events, today’s ‘inauguration’ of Lukashenka does not mean his recognition as a legitimate head of the Belarusian state,” the minister said.

At the same time, he stressed that he did not consider such a position of Ukraine interference in the neighbouring state’s internal affairs.

“Ukraine has never interfered in any way in Belarus’ internal affairs and will always support the Belarusian people,” Kuleba said.

To recap, on Wednesday, 23 September, the so-called inauguration of Lukashenka as the president of Belarus took place in the Palace of Independence in Minsk. Only a few hundred people were invited to the ceremony, and the “inauguration” was held without an announcement or telecast, as required by law.

The foreign ministers of most European countries (Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Denmark) said they considered the election results in Belarus illegitimate. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, on behalf of all EU countries, stressed that the EU does not recognise the legitimacy of Alexander Lukashenka and calls for new, free presidential elections in Belarus. Additionally, the United States and Canada have also declared Lukashenka’s illegitimacy as the president.

The president of Turkmenistan was the first to congratulate Lukashenka on his inauguration.

Bohdan Marusyak