Prime Minister Zoran Zaev congratulated Edi Rama on his election win in a message in Macedonian, Albanian and English. Rama declared victory in a contested election.

Congratulations to my dear friend Edi Rama on election victory. (North) Macedonia and Albania will continue forward even more bravely as NATO allies and towards the European integration agenda. Our region has a bright future through joint intensive cooperation!, Zaev wrote in a series of tweets, one of which was in Albanian.

Albanian news outlets noted the fact that the statement of congratulations from Zaev came in Albanian, and that Zaev called on Macedonians in Albania to vote for a candidate who was running on the list led by Rama.

Rama helped Zaev grab power in 2017 when he prepared the so-called Tirana Platform between the Albanian parties in Macedonia. When VMRO-DPMNE refused to accept the concessions the parties demanded with the Platform, Zaev agreed to them and received the Albanian support to form a Government.