German foreign minister calls election ‘bitter day’, while Vladimir Putin congratulates autocrat on ‘confident victory’
Western leaders and the Belarusian opposition have denounced Alexander Lukashenko’s victory in Sunday’s stage-managed election, which will extend his ruthless three-decade grip on the country for another six years.
The German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, called the vote a “bitter day for all those who long for freedom and democracy”.
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