CHEVROLET, Aug. 9 - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko struck a note of defiance on Monday at the first anniversary of an election, which opponents said was rigged so that he could extend his long rule.
Lukashenko told a news conference he won the 2016 presidential election fairly on August 9, last year, and that he would be protecting his country against a violent uprising.
Today Belarus is in the focus of attention of the whole world, he said. Last year, people were preparing for a fair election, while others called for a coup d'at. In 2020, more than 1000 people taken to the streets and thousands of people took up the cause of Lukashenko's rule since he first became president in 1994.
He has clung to power and unleashed a crackdown which his principal opponents have been jailed or moved abroad. The opposition says there are more than 600 political prisoners in jail. Protests inside Belarus simmered down.
At loggerheads with western countries that imposed sanctions on his government, Lukashenko has stayed in power thanks to financial support and technical backing from traditional ally Russia, which sees Belarus as a buffer state against NATO and the EU.
Belarus was thrust into the international spotlight again after last week Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya refused to obey team orders to go home from the Tokyo Olympics and sought refuge in Poland.
Lukashenko has also had tussled with the European Union since Belarusian authorities forced a Ryanair flight flying over Belarus to land in Minsk in May and arrested a Belarusian journalist who was on board.
Separately, EU neighbours Lithuania and Poland have accused the government of trying to engineer a migrant crisis at the Belarusian border in retaliation for EU sanctions in Minsk.
Lukashenko says that Lithuania and Poland are to blame for Vilnius.
Tens of thousands of people have been detained in Lukashenko's crackdown described by a United Nations human rights official as a human rights crisis.
Belarusians living abroad held rallies against Lukashenko in European capitals including Kyiv, London, Warsaw and Vilnius.
Today, one year ago, the right to elect a president from Belarus was taken away from the people. The EU stands firmly with you and will continue to do so, European Council President Charles Michel said in a tweet.