In war-torn Syria, the re-elected head of state Bashar al-Assad took up his fourth term in office on Saturday.
The 55-year-old president took the oath of office in front of 600 guests in the capital Damascus.
In his inaugural address, Assad said that in the presidential election on May 26, the Syrian people demonstrated the legitimacy of the state.
At the same time, with its vote, the people had put the criticism of the West in their place.
At the ceremony on Saturday, he thanked his voters for
their "awareness and national sense of belonging," as the state agency Sana reported.
Assad said after the swearing in, anyone who left the country because of the suspicion of a collapse in Syria must return.
The United States, Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy had described the Syrian presidential election as “neither free nor fair”, while the opposition in the civil war country called it a “farce”.
Assad has ruled Syria since 2000;
he had entered the election with practically no competition.
Politicians of the exile opposition were excluded from running, Assad's challengers were hardly known and only a few Syrians were known.
This year's presidential election was the second since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, in the course of which nearly 390,000 people were killed and millions more displaced.
During the election campaign, Assad presented himself as the only qualified architect for the reconstruction of the country.
The Assad clan has ruled Syria for more than 50 years.
Hafiz al-Assad came to power in a military coup in November 1970, and after his death in 2000 his son Bashar took over the highest office of the state.