As Belarus votes amid repression, what drives Alexander Lukashenko, the president likely to secure a seventh term.

Alexander Lukashenko, Europe’s longest-serving leader, has extended his 31-year rule in Belarus after being declared the winner of a presidential election that his exiled opponents and Western countries have denounced as a sham.

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.

China and Russia offered Minsk their congratulations.Exiled opposition figurehead Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Monday dismissed as fraudulent a presidential election that saw Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko declared the winner.

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 speaks to the media after ... relying on subsidies and political support from close ally Russia. He let Moscow use his territory to invade Ukraine in ...

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.

Belarus on Sunday held an orchestrated election virtually guaranteed to give its 70-year-old autocrat, Alexander Lukashenko, yet another presidential term on top of his three decades in power.

The Russian and Chinese leaders yesterday congratulated Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko for winning a seventh term in office, with Russia's Vladimir Putin saying Sunday's election showed he had the "undoubted" backing of the people.

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.

Belarusians are voting in a closely-managed presidential election that is all but certain to extend the one-man rule of Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994 and Europe’s longest-serving leader.