WASHINGTON — When the Belarusian government said on Monday that over half the country’s voters supported a constitutional amendment allowing authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko to stay in power until 2035, opposition leaders and foreign election watchdogs immediately called it a sham.
The Sunday vote – which took place only days after Belarus’ close ally Russia invaded their mutual neighbor Ukraine – also expanded Lukashenko’s ability to coordinate with the Russian military. On Tuesday, Lukashenko announced he would deploy more troops to the Belarus-Ukraine border.
