European Standard

This took place three years ago, but it was so funny that I want to share with you guys. It shows how Lukashenka, dubbed “Last Dictator in Europe”, is ruling Belarus. (Radio Free Europe)

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, accused of inflating his vote tally to win reelection in March, says he actually reduced the number of votes he received to make the result more acceptable to the West.

Lukashenka made the remark to journalists in Minsk on November 23.

"Yes, we falsified the latest elections," Lukashenka said. "I have already told the Westerners about this. As many as 93.5 percent of voters voted for President Lukashenka. But they said this was not a 'European' figure. And we reduced it to 86 [percent]. That's indeed what happened."

Finally, he recognized the fact that his government has rigged the election, but just the opposite direction. How modest he is. It really shows his commitment to rejoin Europe and reestablish good relations with neighbors, or does it?

The only thing is he actually only got 83% in the official tally. It turns out his subordinates have done a better job than he expected.

There are so many fake or heavily-rigged elections in the world. Are they a good step forward or they are even worse than no election at all?