Alexander Lukashenko has been sworn in as the Belarusian president; the inauguration ceremony is taking place at the Independence Palace in Minsk, the Belarusian state-run news agency BelTA said on Wednesday.

"Alexander Lukashenko put his right hand on the Constitution and swore an oath in Belarusian. Then he signed the oath, and Chairperson of the Belarusian Central Commission on Elections and Referenda Lidia Yermoshina presented Alexander Lukashenko with a certificate of the President of the Republic of Belarus," BelTA said.