KYIV, Ukraine—Leader Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus was sworn in to his sixth term in office at an inaugural ceremony that wasn’t announced in advance, amid weeks of protests against the authoritarian leader’s reelection, which the opposition says was rigged.
One opposition leader called the secretive Sept. 23 ceremony “a farce,” and several European countries reiterated that they don’t recognize the results of the election and refuse to regard Lukashenko as the legitimate leader. In the evening, thousands of people took to the streets in the capital of Minsk to protest the inauguration and were met with a strong response from the police.
