Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko is a Belarusian politician who has been the president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, currently the longest in Europe.
Some of the key events about Alexander Lukashenko
- 1975Graduated from Mogilev State Pedagogical Institute with a degree in history
- 1990Elected as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of Belarus
- 1994Won Belarus's first presidential election as an independent candidate
- 1995Initiated the referendum that made Russian an official language in Belarus
- 1995Ordered the shooting down of a hot air balloon that accidentally crossed into Belarusian airspace, killing two American citizens
- 1996Dissolved the democratically elected parliament and replaced it with a loyal assembly
- 1999Orchestrated the disappearance of several prominent opposition figures
- 2000Established the Belarus-Russia Union State to promote closer ties between the two countries
- 2004Held a referendum to remove presidential term limits, allowing indefinite rule
- 2006Oversaw the completion of the National Library of Belarus, a significant cultural landmark
- 2006Oversaw a presidential election widely condemned as fraudulent by international observers
- 2010Signed a decree to create the Hi-Tech Park, promoting IT sector development in Belarus
- 2010Violently suppressed protests following another disputed presidential election
- 2012Expelled the Swedish ambassador and closed the Swedish embassy in Minsk in retaliation for a pro-democracy stunt
- 2014Hosted peace talks in Minsk between Russia and Ukraine, known as the Minsk agreements
- 2015Pardoned six opposition figures who were considered political prisoners
- 2020Oversaw Belarus's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping the economy largely open
- 2020Claimed a landslide victory in an election widely regarded as rigged, sparking mass protests
- 2021Forced the landing of a Ryanair flight to arrest a dissident journalist on board
- 2022Allowed Russian forces to use Belarus as a staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine
Disclaimer: This material is written based on information taken from open sources, including Wikipedia, news media, podcasts, and other public sources.
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