Minsk, Jan 27 (AP) Belarus' opposition activists and Western officials on Monday denounced an orchestrated election that extends the more than three-decade rule of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. The country's exiled opposition leader called the result “sheer nonsense.” The Central Election Commission declared that Lukashenko won Sunday's election with nearly 87% of the vote after a campaign in which four token challengers on the ballot all praised his rule.

Members of the political opposition, many of whom are imprisoned or exiled abroad by Lukashenko's unrelenting crackdown on dissent and free speech, said the election was a sham — much like the last one in 2020 that triggered months of protests that were unprecedented in the history of the country of 9 million people.

Since then, more than 65,000 people were arrested and thousands beaten, with the crackdown bringing condemnation and sanctions from the West.

The European Union rejected the outcome as illegitimate and threatened new sanctions.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the election offered no choice to voters, marking “a bitter day for all those who long for freedom and democracy.” “Instead of free and fair elections and a life without fear and arbitrariness, they experience daily oppression, repression and human rights violations,” she said in a post on X.

The EU, the UK, Australia and New Zealand issued a joint statement condemning “the sham presidential elections in Belarus” and the Lukashenko government's human rights violations.

“No election can be considered free, fair or in line with international standards when it is held in a climate of ongoing repression, marked by a clampdown on civil society, arbitrary detentions, and restrictions on genuine political participation,” the statement said, urging authorities to release political prisoners.

The countries said they were imposing coordinated sanctions on Lukashenko's government. Britain and Canada jointly imposed sanctions on six individuals, including prison chiefs, a senior Interior Ministry official and the head of the Central Election Commission, as well as three Belarusian defense companies.

Lukashenko has been in power since 1994 and has ruled the country with an iron fist. He has relied on subsidies and political support from Russian President Vladimir Putin, himself in office for a quarter-century, a relationship that helped him survive the 2020 protests.

Lukashenko allowed Moscow to use the country's territory to invade Ukraine in 2022 and later hosted some of Russia's tactical nuclear weapons.

Putin called Lukashenko on Monday to congratulate him on his “convincing victory.” Chinese President Xi Jinping also sent congratulations.

Some observers believe Lukashenko feared a repeat of those mass demonstrations amid economic troubles and the fighting in Ukraine, and so scheduled the vote in January, when few would want to fill the streets again, rather than hold it in August.

Leading opponents have fled abroad or were thrown in prison. Activists say the country holds nearly 1,300 political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, founder of the Viasna Human Rights Center.

Since July, Lukashenko has pardoned more than 250 people. At the same time, authorities have sought to uproot dissent by arresting hundreds more in raids targeting relatives and friends of political prisoners.

Opposition leader-in-exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled Belarus under government pressure after challenging Lukashenko in 2020, had denounced the election in advance and had urged voters to cross off every candidate on the ballot.

On Monday, she rejected the official vote tally as “sheer nonsense,” saying Lukashenko “will not succeed in cheating the world and the Belarusian people, who live in fear amid the most horrible repressions.” “As long as Belarus remains under control of Lukashenko and Putin, there will remain a constant threat to peace and security of the entire region,” Tsikhanouskaya told The Associated Press.

Pavel Latushka, a prominent Belarusian opposition activist who lives abroad, said Lukashenko has been trying to mend ties with the West by releasing some political prisoners and offering to help sponsor peace talks on Ukraine.

“We are seeing attempts by Lukashenko to turn the page and start talks with Western nations to win at least a degree of international recognition,” he said, emphasizing the importance of keeping sanctions in place to force the Belarusian leader to ease his crackdown on dissent.

Latushka predicted that Belarus' economy will worsen, raising pressure on Lukashenko to try to win a respite from the sanctions.

“Lukashenko realizes that Belarus is facing a difficult time when it's very hard to stabilize the economy without more Kremlin subsidies and Russia's resources are scarce,” Latushka said. “In these conditions, Minsk will try to launch a conversation on lifting Western sanctions.” On Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on X that Belarus has “unilaterally” freed an imprisoned American woman, whom he identified as Anastassia Nuhfer without giving any details of her case.

Valery Karbalevich, an independent political analyst, said Lukashenko would be unlikely to reduce repressions but could be expected to bargain with the West for easing sanctions by releasing more prisoners. (AP) ZH ZH