Ukraine doesn’t recognize Alexander Lukashenko as a legitimate president of Belarus, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter hours after Lukashenko held a secret inauguration in his presidential palace.
“Taking into account the election campaign and what followed, today’s ‘inauguration’ of Lukashenko does not mean his recognition as a legitimate head of Belarusian state,” Kuleba wrote on Sept. 23.
Ukraine wasn’t alone in its assessment of recent Belarus events. Lukashenko’s unannounced inauguration wasn’t recognized by the European Union and the United States.
“The new mandate claimed by Lukashenko lacks any democratic legitimacy,” the official statement by the European Council reads.
“The European Union’s position is clear: Belarusian citizens deserve the right to be represented by those they freely choose through new inclusive, transparent and credible elections,” the statement reads.
On Sept. 23, Lukashenko was sworn in as the president of Belarus with a mere few hundred people in attendance.
Lukashenko’s inauguration took less than 20 minutes, with the event being reported by Belarus state-controlled news agencies only after it was concluded.
The event wasn’t announced ahead of time, while the country’s state-owned television channels were showing Russian soap operas instead. No foreign guests were invited.
Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told the Russian RBC news agency that he had no clue about the event.
Such secrecy was caused by the fact that Lukashenko lost legitimacy long before his inauguration took place.
The Belarus Central Election Commission has declared Lukashenko, who has been ruling Belarus for 26 years, the winner of the Aug. 9 presidential election despite strong evidence that the election was rigged.
Read More: Lukashenko falsifies election, declares war on Belarusians
Thousands of Belarusians came out to demand a fair count. In response, riot police used water cannons, flash grenades and rubber bullets to clear the streets of protesters standing up for their rights.
The protests continue to this day, with over 100,000 people have been taking the streets each Sunday demanding Lukashenko leave the office.
The international community has long demanded of Lukashenko to begin negotiations with the opposition.
On Aug. 19, President of the European Council Charles Michel issued a statement saying that the elections in Belarus “were neither free nor fair.”
Instead, Lukashenko fired back, alleging that Belarus neighbors are looking to depose him.
On Aug. 27, Ukraine suspended diplomatic relations with Belarus after Lukashenko threatened Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of several European Union countries with unspecified consequences for allegedly provoking street protests.
“We are monitoring the development of the situation, and only when we are convinced that these contacts will not cause reputational, moral, ethical losses for Ukraine, these contacts will be restored,” said Kuleba on Aug. 27.
