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Alexander Lukashenko
Also Known As Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko, Alexander
President of Belarus
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko is a Belarusian politician who has been the president of Belarus since the establishment of the office on 20 July 1994, making him the longest-sitting European president.
Before his political career, Lukashenko worked as director of a state farm (sovkhoz), and served in the Soviet Border Troops and in the Soviet Army. Lukashenko was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1990, and following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he became the head of the interim anti-corruption committee of the Supreme Council of Belarus. In 1994, he was elected president in the country's first presidential election following the adoption of a new constitution.
Lukashenko continued state ownership of key industries in Belarus and retained Soviet-era symbolism, including the coat of arms and national flag, which were based on those of the Byelorussian SSR and adopted following a controversial 1995 referendum. Following the same referendum, Lukashenko was given more power with the ability to dismiss the Supreme Council, and another referendum in 1996 allowed Lukashenko to further consolidate power. The Russian language was also given official status, and economic ties with Russia were strengthened, which furthermore led to the creation of the Union State with Russia, which allows Belarusians to freely travel to, work, and study in Russia, and vice versa. However, relations with Russia have not always run smoothly under his tenure, such as during the Milk War.
Lukashenko heads an authoritarian government and has referred to himself as Europe's "last dictator". Elections are not considered to be free and fair by international monitors, opponents of the regime are repressed, and the media is not free,[9][10] leading to sanctions on Lukashenko and other Belarusian officials being imposed. His disputed victory in the country's 2020 presidential election led to widespread allegations of vote rigging, which strongly amplified anti-government protests, the largest during his rule.[6] Following the contested election, Lukashenko is not recognized by the United Kingdom, the European Union, or the United States as the legitimate president of Belarus.
Early Life
Lukashenko was born on 30 August 1954 in the settlement of Kopys in Vitebsk Region of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Starting with an interview given in 2009, Lukashenko has said that his actual birthday is 31 August, the same as his son's Nikolai's. This caused some confusion as all official sources had said 30 August 1954 up until then. An explanation was later given that his mother had entered the hospital on the 30th in labor but not given birth until after midnight.
His maternal grandfather, Trokhym Ivanovich Lukashenko, had been born in Sumy Oblast of Ukraine near Shostka (today a village of Sobycheve). Lukashenko grew up without a father in his childhood, leading him to be taunted by his schoolmates for having an unmarried mother. Due to this, the origin of his patronymic Grigorevich is unknown and there are various rumors about who Lukashenko's father might have been, with the most popular version being that he was a Roma passing through the region. His mother, Ekaterina Trofimovna Lukashenko (1924–2015), gave birth to another son, Alexander's older brother who died. Ekaterina worked unskilled jobs on a railway, at a construction site, at a flax factory in Orsha and finally as a milkmaid in Alexandria, a small village in the east of Belarus, close to the Russian border.
Lukashenko went to Alexandria secondary school. He graduated from the Mogilev Pedagogical Institute (now Mogilev State A. Kuleshov University) in 1975, after 4 years studying there and the Belarusian Agricultural Academy in Horki in 1985
He served in the Soviet Border Troops from 1975 to 1977, where he was an instructor of the political department of military unit No. 2187 of the Western Frontier District in Brest and in the Soviet Army from 1980 to 1982. In addition, he led an All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (Komsomol) chapter in Mogilev from 1977 to 1978. While in the Soviet Army, Lukashenko was a deputy political officer of the 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division, which was based in Minsk.
In 1979, he joined the ranks of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of Byelorussia. After leaving the military, he became the deputy chairman of a collective farm in 1982 and in 1985, he was promoted to the post of director of the Gorodets state farm and construction materials plant in the Shklow district. In 1987, he was appointed as the director of the Gorodets state farm in Shklow district and in early 1988, was one of the first in Mogilev Region to introduce a leasing contract to a state farm.
In 1990, Lukashenko was elected Deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR. Having acquired a reputation as an eloquent opponent of corruption, Lukashenko was elected in April 1993 to serve as the interim chairman of the anti-corruption committee of the Belarusian parliament. In late 1993 he accused 70 senior government officials, including the Supreme Soviet chairman Stanislav Shushkevich and prime minister Vyacheslav Kebich, of corruption including stealing state funds for personal purposes. While the charges ultimately proved to be without merit, Shushkevich resigned his chairmanship due to the embarrassment of this series of events and losing a vote of no-confidence. He served in that position until July 1994.
Education
- Graduated - Mogilev Pedagogical Institute
- Belarusian Agricultural Academy - Horki
Career
- Belarus - President
Other Activites
Lukashenko used to play football, but stopped playing during his presidency. His two elder sons also play ice hockey, sometimes alongside their father. Lukashenko started training in cross-country running as a child, and in the 2000s still competed at the national level. He is a keen skier and ice hockey forward. In an interview he said that he plays ice hockey three times a week. He has established the Belarus President's team, an amateur team which he sometimes plays for. Numerous ice rinks intended to enable competitive ice hockey games to be played, have been built all over Belarus at Lukashenko's behest. Lukashenko was instrumental in getting the 2014 IIHF World Championship in ice hockey to be hosted by Belarus which was considered controversial due to Lukashenko's repressive regime. Belarus was supposed to host the 2021 IIHF World Championship in May 2021, but that was cancelled after international condemnation and threats by sponsors to withdraw.
Recognition
Medal "In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow" (1997)
Winner of the international premium of Andrey Pervozvanny "For Faith and Loyalty" (1995)
Medal "Bethlehem-2000" (Palestinian National Authority, 2000)
The Order of José Martí (Cuba, 2000)
Order of the Revolution (Libya, 2000)
Special prize of the International Olympic Committee "Gates of Olympus" (2000)
Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd Class (Russia, 2001)
Honorary citizen of Yerevan, Armenia (2001)
Order of St. Dmitry Donskoy, First Degree (by the Russian Orthodox Church) (2005)
Medal of the International Federation of Festival Organizations "For development of the world festival movement" (2005)
Order of St. Cyril (by the Belarusian Orthodox Church) (2006)
Honorary Diploma of the Eurasian Economic Community (2006)
Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, 1st Degree (2007)
Grand Chain of the Order of the Liberator(Venezuela, 2007)
Order of St. Vladimir, First Degree (by the Russian Orthodox Church) (2007)
Keys to the City of Caracas, Venezuela (2010)
Order of Distinguished Citizen (Caracas, Venezuela, 2010)
Order of Francisco Miranda, First Class (Venezuela, 2010)
Order of the Republic of Serbia (2013)
Presidential Order of Excellence (Georgia, 2013)
Order of St. Sava, 1st Degree (2014)
Order of Alexander Nevsky (Russia, August 30 2014)
Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov, 1st Degree (2015) – for merits in protecting the spiritual values of the Belarusian people, maintaining church life and establishing peaceful relations between people of different faiths.
Badge of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus "For Merit" (Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus, February 11, 2016)
Order of the Republic (Moldova, October 4, 2016) – as a sign of deep gratitude for the special merits in the development and strengthening of friendship, mutual understanding and cooperation in various areas between the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Moldova and for the great personal contribution to providing significant support to our country in a difficult economic situation.
Order of Heydar Aliyev (Azerbaijan, November 28, 2016) – for special merits in the development of friendly relations and cooperation between the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Order of Nazarbayev (Kazakhstan, 2019)
Ig Nobel Prize (Peace in 2013, Medical Education in 2020)
Honorary Doctor of Science, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. He was deprived of his status on June 7, 2021 due to the forced landing of a Ryanair aircraft in Belarus. He became the first honorary doctor of science in the history of the university, who was deprived of this title