The European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) has uncovered a network of over 90 politically biased observers who participated in legitimizing Belarus’s 2025 presidential election.

Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, sought a seventh term in office. He secured another term as Belarus’s president with 86.8% of the vote in an election that faced strong international criticism calling it a “sham.”

The election occurred without oversight from credible international organizations. Lukashenko’s administration declined to invite the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers, effectively preventing an independent assessment of the voting process. 

The Belarusian Central Election Commission accredited 486 international observers during the electoral process. Many had direct ties to authoritarian regimes or faced criminal investigations in their home countries, the EPDE‘s investigation shows.

“Election monitoring is a fundamental pillar of democracy, but Lukashenka’s Belarus has turned it into a farce,” EPDE’s Łukasz Kondraciuk reports. “This so-called observation mission was a staged performance, orchestrated to rubber-stamp a fraudulent election.”

The observers included former EU politicians expelled for corruption, far-right extremists, and fugitives wanted in their home countries.

Frank Creyelman, a former Belgian senator expelled from the far-right Vlaams Belang party over Chinese espionage allegations, praised the election atmosphere. “Everything is taking place in a very cheerful, pleasant, festive atmosphere. In my country, everything is organized in a less engaging way and without music,” he said.

Some observers had previously endorsed other contested elections. “I have participated in and prepared elections numerous times, including EU-wide ones. I would like to highlight the high level of security in the election process,” Polish politician Krzysztof Tołwiński stated during the observation mission.

The election took place with around half a million Belarusians in exile. Over 1,200 political prisoners remain behind bars, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski.

The EPDE investigation revealed that domestic election observation has been eliminated. Local monitoring organizations were branded as “extremists” and shut down.

Belarus maintains close ties with Russia, having allowed its territory to be used as a launching pad for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Belarusian territory was used for troop deployments and missile strikes against Ukraine, facilitating Russia’s advance towards Kyiv on 24 February 2022. During the election, Lukashenko expressed “no regrets” about this decision.

Belarus also faces Western sanctions due to human rights violations and its support for Russia’s military actions.

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