Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has extended his more than three decades in power in Sunday’s orchestrated election that the opposition and the European Union rejected as a sham.

Belarusians are voting in a closely-managed presidential election that is all but certain to extend the one-man rule of Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994 and Europe’s longest-serving leader.

Belarus autocrat Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, won a seventh consecutive term in office Sunday in an election denounced by the European Union and the exiled opposition.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union rejected the election in Belarus on Sunday as illegitimate and threatened new sanctions. Belarus held an orchestrated vote virtually guaranteed to give 70-year-old autocratic President Alexander Lukashenko yet another term on top of his three decades in power.

Belarusians voted on Sunday in an election set to hand President Alexander Lukashenko a seventh term, prolonging his three-decade authoritarian rule. Lukashenko — a 70-year-old former collective farm boss — has been in power in reclusive,