Alexander Lukashenko, the absolute ruler of Belarus, marked three decades in power on Saturday.
For 30 years, European leaders have come and gone by the dozens, but he remained in control of his country by silencing all dissent, reverting to Soviet-style economic controls and methods, and cosying up to Russia. But he sometimes flirted with the West, too.
Lukashenko, 69, was dubbed “Europe’s last dictator” early in his rule, and he has lived up to that nickname.
As head of a country located between Russia, Ukraine and NATO members like Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, Lukashenko was elected to his sixth term in office in 2020, in a vote widely seen at home and abroad as rigged as he supposedly got more than 80% of votes.
Months of mass protests that followed were harshly suppressed in a violent crackdown that sent tens of thousands to jail amid allegations of beatings and torture. Many political opponents remain imprisoned or have fled the nation of 9.5 million.
But the strongman shrugged off Western sanctions and isolation that followed, and now he says he will run for a seventh five-year term next year.
Russia, the big brother
Lukashenko owes his political longevity to a mixture of guile, brutality and staunch political and economic support from Russia.
Most recently, in 2022 he allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory to invade Ukraine and later agreed to host some of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons.
“Lukashenko has turned Belarus into a fragment of the USSR, dangerous not only for its citizens but also threatening its Western neighbours with nuclear weapons,” says independent political analyst Valery Karbalevich.
He describes the Belarusian leader as “one of the most experienced post-Soviet politicians, who has learned to play on both the Kremlin’s mood and the fears of his own people.”
Came to power with the promise of ending corruption
Before Lukashenko was elected, he was the head of an anti-corruption committee where he made serious allegations and prepared controversial reports about senior government officials, and pushed for a democratic election.
Before that, Lukashenko was a former state farm director. He ran for election and was first elected in July 1994, just two and a half years after Belarus gained independence.
He pledged to fight corruption and boost living standards that had plunged amid chaotic free-market reforms.
An admirer of the Soviet Union, Lukashenko pushed soon after his election for a referendum that abandoned the country’s new red-and-white national flag in favour of one similar to what Belarus had used as a Soviet republic.
He also quickly bolstered ties with Russia and pushed for forming a new union state, apparently hoping to become its head after a full merger.
Death sentences are still carried out
Under Lukashenko, Belarus’ top security agency retained its fearsome Soviet-era name of the KGB. It also has been the only country in Europe to keep capital punishment, with executions carried out with a shot to the back of the head.
In 1999 and 2000, four prominent Lukashenko critics disappeared, and an investigation by the Council of Europe concluded they were kidnapped and killed by death squads linked to senior Belarusian officials. Belarusian authorities stonewalled European demands to track down and prosecute the suspected culprits.
“Lukashenko never bothered with his reputation,” said Anatoly Lebedko, leader of the now-outlawed United Civil Party of Belarus. “He relished in calling himself a dictator and bragged about being a pariah even when he was publicly accused of political killings and other crimes.”
Lukashenko keeps his youngest son, 19-year-old Nikolai, at his side at official events, fuelling speculation that he could be grooming him as a successor.
He maintains a tough-guy image by playing hockey, skiing and doing other sports. After contracting COVID-19, he said he recovered quickly, thanks to physical activity.
But he has become visibly less energetic in recent years amid rumours of health problems that he denies.
“I’m not going to die,” he said last year. “You will have to tolerate me for quite a long time to go.”
