In power for 16 years, Alexander Lukashenko looks set to win again. The EU has never recognised his rule and asks for human rights abuses to end before relations warm.

Belarus goes to the polls

Belarusians look certain to re-elect  president Alexander Lukashenko.

Accusations of vote rigging  are the tip of the iceberg.

was recently found hanged in  suspicious circumstances.

The paradox is that  the President remains popular.

The problem is that  there is no real competition.

There is no opposition in  the parliament.

Alaksandar Milinkievič believes  the EU can still influence developments.

For Lukashenko it’s important that  he is seen as legitimate by Brussels

because we need to radically modernise  our economy

- Russia has stopped investing so much -

so the EU is the now the biggest partner.

But the doors to Brussels  won’t be opened so easily.

We have some offers to propose to  the Belarusian authorities,

I may say, some ‘carrots’, but we need  at the same time to demand changes

to make it a more free market economy  model but also to public life.

Belarus is the last European country  to use the death penalty.

and it remains a key barrier  to warmer relations with Brussels.