Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for over 30 years, is poised to extend his rule in an election that concludes Sunday and that the opposition dismisses as a farce.

European Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper commented on the presidential elections in Belarus scheduled for Sunday, calling them a "complete fraud." She emphasized that this "exercise" cannot be called an election because the outcome is predetermined,

Belarus is a buffer state. That is the geography, and there is no escaping it. But Belarus is not just a buffer. Our country is a geopolitical buffer in the center of Europe. We are exactly on the rift of two worlds.