OSCE: Significant problems undermined integrity of Belarus vote

"Significant problems" undermined the integrity of Sunday's presidential election in Belarus, international vote observers said Monday, after strongman Alexander Lukashenko romped to a fifth term with the EU eyeing closer ties.

"It is clear that Belarus still has a long way to go towards fulfilling its democratic commitments," Kent Harstedt, head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission, said in a statement, which added that "some significant problems, particularly during the counting and tabulation of votes, undermined the integrity of the election."