Lukashenko to run for seventh term as president of Belarus

Alexander Lukashenko said he would run for a seventh term as President of Belarus in 2025. He made the announcement while speaking to journalists at a polling station after voting in Belarus’s parliamentary and local council elections.

“I’ll run, I’ll run, I’ll run. Tell them I’ll run,” said Lukashenko, addressing his statement to representatives from the Belarusian opposition. “And the harder the situation becomes, the more actively they’ll disturb our society, including you. Believe me, it’s very important for me — no one, no responsible president would abandon his people who followed him into battle. The more they put pressure on you, me, and society, the sooner I’ll run in these elections. Don’t worry, we’ll do what’s necessary for Belarus.”

He added that nowhere in the world are the “elections as open, fair, and principled as in Belarus.”

Lukashenko was first elected as president of Belarus in 1994 and has now been in power for 30 years.