Alexander Lukashenko: Difference between revisions

In 1999 Lukashenko and Yeltsin succeeded in signing a Treaty on the Creation of a Union State, which proposed broad cooperation but stipulated independence for both states. Although Lukashenko’s term of office had been scheduled to expire in 1999, he continued in office under the new terms he had negotiated. Reelected in 2001, he oversaw the passage 2004 of a controversial amendment that allowed him to seek a third term. Lukashenko won the 2006 election amid allegations of tampering. Many countries and organizations condemned the election, and the European Union (EU) subsequently barred Lukashenko and a number of his officials from entering any of its member countries. In 2008, in an attempt to improve relations with Belarus, the EU temporarily removed its travel ban against the president. Lukashenko easily won another term as president in elections held in late 2010, and, as in 2006, there were allegations of voting irregularities.

On 11 October 2015, Lukashenko was elected for his fifth term as the President of Belarus. In mid-September 2017, Lukashenko oversaw the advancement of joint Russian and Belarusian military relations during the military drills that were part of the Zapad 2017 exercise. Just over three weeks later, he was inaugurated in the Independence Palace in the presence of attendees such as former President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, Chairman of the Russian Communist Party Gennady Zyuganov, and Belarusian biathlete Darya Domracheva.