Incumbent Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko won a landslide victory in Sunday's presidential elections, electoral officials said. Lukashenko, often referred to as "Europe's last dictator," secured nearly 84 percent of the vote, the Central Election Commission announced late Sunday, according to The New York Times.
Three other presidential candidates, including Tatiana Korotkevich of the Tell the Truth party, garnered just six percent of the vote. The voter turnout was 86.7 percent.
"That would mean that people were beginning to move away and were dissatisfied with some of my policies. Therefore for me it is very important: If Lukashenka wins, that I retain what was there in the past election," Lukashenko said after voting in Minsk, according to rferl.
The president also stated that he is willing to improve Belarus' relations with the Western countries, if they are also interested in better ties.
"I don't think our elections, and not only the elections, can bring an improvement in our relations with the West. They will happen only when the West wants this itself," he said, according to RT. "Do not twist my words or take out them of context and do not throw anything away, you know, like you do in the West. I do not want to fight but if God forbid we have to, it won't be a matter of air bases."
The 61-year-old Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 20 years, is Europe's longest serving leader, reported Press TV. His re-election in 2010 led to mass protests and riots in Minsk and the imprisonment of some of his political rivals.
