Putin congratulates Belarusian president on his re-election

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated on Monday the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who was reelected by a landslide majority in the presidential elections held on Sunday.

“Lukashenko’s decisive victory in the election indicates his high political authority and trust from the population,” Putin said in a telegram, according to the Kremlin press service.

“We also support the path taken to boost socioeconomic development”, he added.

The Kremlin chief expressed confidence that this victory will deepen “strategic” bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries.

The Belarusian leader, in power since 1994, won 83.49 percent of votes, according to preliminary results declared on Monday by the president of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Belarus Lidia Yermoshina.

Second, with 4.42 percent of the vote, was the opposition activist Tatiana Korotkevich, followed by Liberal Democratic Party leader Sergei Gaidukevich, who got 3.32 percent.