Final votes are still being counted, and the result isn't expected to be released until later on Monday, but state television predicted Lukashenko would win with almost 88% of the vote. View on eurone

Belarus held an orchestrated election over the weekend that the opposition and the EU rejected as a farce, extending President Lukashenko's more than 30 years in power.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko extended his rule in a controversial election rejected by the opposition and the EU as illegitimate. The election came amidst a harsh crackdown on dissent and amid ongoing international scrutiny.

Belarusian leader and Russian ally Alexander Lukashenko extended his 31-year rule on Monday after electoral officials declared him the winner of a presidential election Western governments rejected as a sham.

The European Union will not lift sanctions against the government of Belarus's autocrat Alexander Lukashenko following the country's "sham" presidential elections, the bloc's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Sunday.

Alexander Lukashenko is projected to win Belarus's presidency with 87.6% of the vote, amid Western critics labeling the elections a 'sham'. Despite past protests and accusations of election rigging, Lukashenko persists in power,

The EU's top diplomat said Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who is certain to win a seventh presidential term in Sunday's election after barring most opponents, "doesn't have any legitimacy".

As an East African bloc urged an immediate ceasefire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwandan-backed M23 rebels who seized the city of Goma extended their advance on Wednesday, and Congo said it planned a campaign to recover lost territory.

Alexander Lukashenko was declared the landslide winner of presidential elections in Belarus. His victory was seen as a foregone conclusion in a country he's run for more than 30 years.

STORY: Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko extended his 31-year rule with a massive election win.The country held a presidential election on Sunday.According to results published on the Central Election Commission's Telegram account,

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko delivers a speech during ... which was refined in Belarus and resold in Ukraine and the EU. Russia, meanwhile, imported vast quantities of Belarusian ...

Longtime Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko won a “sham” presidential election ... “So, we are taking part in the election with the president’s team.” Neither the EU, the U.K. nor the U.S. recognize Lukashenko’s government as legitimate.