AKIPRESS.COM - The European Union has agreed to suspend sanctions against Belarus after president Alexander Lukashenko won a fifth term, even though observers said the poll was flawed.

Lukashenko, 61, won a fifth consecutive term on Sunday with 83.5% of the vote, according to official figures.

EU foreign ministers have agreed to suspend sanctions for four months, after the elections passed off without incident, France’s European affairs minister Harlem Desir told reporters after a meeting in Luxembourg, reports The Guardian.

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said there appeared to have been less repression than in past elections, but Washington voiced disappointment, saying the ballot fell “significantly short” of the country’s commitment to free and fair polls.

Ahead of the vote EU diplomats had said Brussels was ready to reconsider the sanctions, which are set to expire on 31 October, provided the polls passed off in an “acceptable climate”.

But observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said earlier on Monday the ballot’s integrity had been undermined by “significant problems”, especially during the counting of the votes.

“It is clear that Belarus still has a long way to go towards fulfilling its democratic commitments,” said Kent Harstedt, head of the OSCE mission.

Current EU sanctions imposed for rights abuses include travel bans and asset freezes against Lukashenko and around 170 other individuals and 14 groups.