On Wednesday, September 23, the inauguration ceremony of Alexander Lukashenko took place at the Palace of Independence in Minsk.

The head of state, putting his right hand on the Constitution of the Republic, took the oath in Belarusian: “Taking the office of President of the Republic of Belarus, I solemnly swear to faithfully serve the people of the Republic of Belarus, respect and protect the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, observe and protect the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, sacred and conscientiously fulfill the high duties entrusted to me. "

After that, Lukashenka signed the act of taking the oath, and the head of the Central Election Commission, Lidia Yermoshina, presented him with a presidential certificate.

Then the Belarusian servicemen took an oath of loyalty to the people and the president of the republic.

“We are all united by energy, perseverance and devotion to our beloved homeland - independent and free, peaceful and safe, kind and open to the world.

After all the trials, we did not lose ourselves, which means that we are able to build the country we love and dream of ourselves.

I will do my best so that you never regret that I was the first president of our Belarus, ”Lukashenka said.

According to him, 2020 will go down in the history of the republic as an extremely emotional period.

As Lukashenka said, unprecedented external pressure only hardened Belarus, made the state "more decisive and uncompromising in the struggle for its own."

“An unprecedented challenge was thrown down to our statehood - the challenge of repeatedly worked out reliable technologies for the destruction of independent states.

But we were among the very few - even, perhaps, the only ones - where the "color revolution" did not take place.

And this is the choice of Belarusians, who in no case want to lose the country, ”the head of state added.

He also assured that the Belarusian authorities will not give up their social policy even in the most difficult times.

“The support of pensioners, large families, socially vulnerable strata of society will remain a visiting card of the Belarusian path under any circumstances and in any conditions,” Lukashenko stressed.

"Absolutely sovereign, internal decision of the Belarusian leadership"

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that he did not know about Lukashenko's inauguration on September 23.

“This is an absolutely sovereign, internal decision of the Belarusian leadership.

If it is accepted, it means that it was considered expedient, "Peskov commented on the inauguration ceremony of the President of Belarus.

According to the official representative of the German Cabinet of Ministers Steffen Seibert, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not congratulate Alexander Lukashenko on his inauguration.

He called on the Belarusian authorities to stop violence against civilians, release political prisoners and establish a national dialogue.

“This ceremony was prepared in secret and was held without public participation, this is already significant.

Let's go back to the presidential elections on August 9th.

They, as we said then, in no way met the minimum requirements for democratic elections, they were neither fair nor free, therefore, as the chancellor said, we cannot recognize the results of these elections.

In accordance with this, Lukashenka also cannot claim democratic legitimacy after today's ceremony, ”he said.

At the same time, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius, in his Twitter, called the inauguration held fake.

In his opinion, what is happening in Minsk is a farce.

His colleague from Slovakia Ivan Korchok called Lukashenka illegitimate president.

“He is responsible for a presidential election that was neither free nor fair.

Slovakia supports the citizens of Belarus, ”the diplomat wrote on his Twitter.

The "secret inauguration" does not make Lukashenko the legitimate president of the country, said the head of the Latvian Foreign Ministry Edgar Rinkevich.

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At the same time, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya called herself “the only leader elected by the Belarusian people,” stressing that any orders of Lukashenka are now illegitimate.

“We all understand what's going on.

This attempt to recognize himself as legitimate only led to the fact that the previous powers were completed, and the people did not give him a new mandate.

This so-called inauguration is, of course, a farce.

In fact, today Lukashenka just retired, ”she said in a video message posted on the Pul Pervoy Telegram channel.

In turn, a member of the presidium of the coordination council of the Belarusian opposition Pavel Latushko said that the world has witnessed an "unprecedented situation" in which Lukashenka "conducted a special operation to self-inaugurate."

He also called for an indefinite action of defiance.

"We will never accept falsification and demand new elections!"

- said in a statement, the text of which is quoted by RIA Novosti.

Let us remind you that the presidential elections were held in Belarus on August 9.

According to the CEC, 80.10% of voters voted for Alexander Lukashenko, 10.12% supported his main rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

On the same day, massive protest demonstrations began throughout the country, which are still taking place.

Initially, the protests were accompanied by clashes with the police, but later these events began to take place peacefully, and the number of protesters began to decline.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the residents of the republic themselves should sort out the situation in Belarus.

In this case, external pressure should be excluded.

“You know our position well: we are for the Belarusians themselves, without any prompts and pressure from outside, in a calm mode and in dialogue with each other, to understand this situation and come to a common decision on how to build their work further,” said Putin at a meeting with Lukashenko.