section_path: Background/Non-recognition
section_name: Non-recognition
paragraph_text: Non-recognition
  
  On 23 October 2024, the same day that the CEC announced the election, Tsikhanouskaya, the United Transitional Cabinet, and the Coordination Council stated that they would consider the election to be invalid unless all political prisoners were released, participation by all Belarusians regardless of residence was implemented, and other conditions such as freedom of assembly and equal access to the media were fulfilled. Tsikhanouskaya later called the vote a "farce" and called for a boycott, but advised against protests "until the real moment of possibility".
  
  In November, Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna stated that the election would not be recognised by Estonia, saying it would not meet democratic standards. On 9 January 2025, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, Marshal of the Polish Senate, stated that the chamber would not recognise the election. On 22 January, the European Parliament called for the European Union (EU) and EU member states to refuse to recognise Lukashenko as president after the vote.
  
  Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the election cannot be free or fair in an "environment where censorship is ubiquitous and independent media outlets no longer exist". Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe rapporteur Ryszard Petru said on 24 January that the election was lacking in debate, free choice and transparency, which meant that it "cannot and will not meet internationally recognised standards of fairness and legitimacy". The European Commission also called the vote "a total sham". On 25 January, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also called the election a "sham". A joint EU statement rejecting the legitimacy of the election was blocked by Hungary.