The last time Belarus staged a presidential election in 2020, authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner with 80% of the vote. That triggered cries of fraud, months of protests and a harsh crackdown with thousands of arrests.

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.

In power since 1994, Alexander Lukashenko is assured of a new five-year term in a vote that the exiled opposition describes as a sham. It has called on Belarusians to tick a box that allows them to reject all the candidates on offer.

Belarus is on the brink of extending the 30-year rule of its authoritarian leader, President Alexander Lukashenko, who is poised to secure a seventh term in a presidential election slated for January 2025.

Five years since the harsh crackdown on protestors after the 2020 election, critics are readying themselves for Belarus' election in January.