Aleksandr Lukashenko

Newly elected President of Byelorussia Aleksandr Lukashenko, left, during inauguration ceremony, in Minsk (Byelorussia), on Friday, January 21, 2011. Elected head of the Belarusian State Aleksandr Lukashenko took the oath and officially entered the office of President of Belarus on January 21, 2011. The current term will be the fourth for president Aleksandr Lukashenko. The Belarusian leader vowed to respect human rights and freedoms at a ceremony at the Palace of the Republic. After the oath the President of Belarus signed an act of oath and received a certificate of the president from the hands of the Belarusian CEC chairman. Chairman of the Council of the Republic, was the first to congratulate Lukashenko on taking office as head of state. More than 2.5 thousand people were invited to a ceremony in the Palace of the Republic. The top leaders of all the three power branches of Belarus, the Belarusian president's representatives in the recent elections, members of the National Assembly, leaders of the political parties and public associations of the republic, religious organizations, as well as the foreign ambassadors and representatives of international organizations, accredited in Belarus, are among them. The inauguration is expected to be attended by the heads of integration associations with Belarus' membership, such as the CSTO, CIS and the Union State of Belarus and Russia, the Eurasian Economic Community. Aleksandr Lukashenko was elected president for the fourth term at elections on December 19, 2010. Photo by Kostin Sergey / UNIAN