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MINSK – President Alexander Lukashenko was sworn in for a fourth term Friday, in a lavish ceremony boycotted by the West over a crackdown on the Belarus opposition after his disputed election victory, AFP reported.

Lukashenko, who has ruled the ex-Soviet state for 16 years and was once described by Washington as Europe's last dictator, has imprisoned some of the opposition's most prominent figures in a ruthless crackdown after the polls.

In his oath taking at the immense Palace of the Republic in Minsk, Lukashenko pledged to serve the Belarussian people and also "respect and preserve the rights and freedom of people and citizens."

But in a stern speech attended by thousands in the vast main hall, he then warned that the "time for revolutions and revolts was over" and vowed to protect the country from threats at home and abroad.

He praised Belarussians in the election for "not ceding to political provocations and the hysteria of politicians and venal journalists".

Ahead of the highly choreographed ceremony, Lukashenko was driven through the eerily deserted streets of Minsk in a convoy headed by a fleet of nine motorcycles.

He was accompanied into the Palace of the Republic by his extra-marital son Kolya, wearing a suit but dwarfed by his giant father. The boy, believed to be aged around six, has become a constant presence at Lukashenko's side.

Tens of thousands of people had protested on election night in Minsk on December 19 against what they perceived as unfair elections that gave the ice hockey-mad strongman a landslide victory.

More than 600 people were detained. Belarus is still holding four of the candidates who stood against Lukashenko and some of the country's leading liberal journalists and activists.

No ambassadors from the 27-nation European Union were present at the ceremony, choosing instead to quit the country for the day, an EU spokeswoman said.

"The European Union head of delegation as well as ambassadors from EU member states will not participate at the inauguration," said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton.

"They are attending an event in Lithuania," she told AFP.

No prominent foreign leader was present either, although Belarussian officials have sought to explain this away by saying such invitations are not part of the country's tradition.

They missed out on an extraordinarily kitsch variety show held after the swearing-in, watched by Lukashenko and Kolya from a special box and featuring pop singers in folk costume and dancers dressed in pink.

Since polling day, relations between the European Union and Belarus have gone into deep freeze with some EU ministers suggesting it was a waste of time even trying to do deal with Lukashenko.

On the last day of 2010, Belarus also ordered the closure of the Minsk office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), in an apparent response to the transatlantic security group's stinging criticism of the polls.

The city centre was virtually devoid of ordinary people ahead of the inauguration although the authorities put out flags and hung a gigantic banner reading "For a Strong and Flourishing Belarus!".

Underlining the venom of the crackdown, the official newspaper Sovyetskaya Belorussia published a report accusing jailed ex-candidate Andrei Sannikov and his wife of accepting $20 million from "foreign donors" to oust the leader.

Lukashenko the day earlier had vowed the toughest retaliation if the EU imposed sanctions on his nation and accused Germany and Poland of seeking to oust him in the election protests.

Unlike the United States and Europe, Russia has been less critical of what it said was its neighbour's "internal affair" and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hosted his Belarussian counterpart on Thursday.

The mercurial Lukashenko has ruled the state of 10 million that lies between three EU states and Russia since 1994. He has long promoted a folksy, populist image at home and likes to be known as "batka" (dad).