On January 26, presidential elections were held in Belarus, where Alexander Lukashenko, who has held power since 1994, was declared the winner. The EU’s top diplomat and the European Parliament’s president condemned the “sham elections.” Leaders from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, and Germany also criticized the elections, while Hungary blocked the EU’s joint statement denouncing the undemocratic process. “The relentless and unprecedented level of repression, human rights violations, and restrictions on political participation and independent media have stripped the electoral process of any legitimacy,” read the draft statement prepared by the European External Action Service.