Authoritarian leader of Belarus sworn for seventh term

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko takes his oath of office (Belarus’ Presidential Press Service via AP)

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has been sworn in for a seventh term, and he mocked those who derided him as “Europe’s last dictator” by saying his country has more democracy “than those who cast themselves as its models”.

“Half of the world is dreaming about our ‘dictatorship’, the dictatorship of real business and interests of our people,” Mr Lukashenko, 70, said in his inauguration speech at the Independence Palace in the capital of Minsk.