There was no own majority for the Social Democrats, who received 35.8 percent of the vote in the election. Therefore, Zoran Zaev now needs to roll up his sleeves and enter into tough negotiations to form a coalition.

"Citizens went out and voted for a clear future, for unity and solidarity, for economic patriotism, for law and order and to choose a better present and a better future," Zoran Zaev said in a victory speech.

In the first place, the Social Democrats want to cooperate with parties that represent the country's Albanian minority.

Prolonged negotiations

The negotiations are expected to take several weeks, which is feared to have a negative effect on politics now that the corona virus is increasing in the country and the economy is shaky as a result of its spread.

- We are entering a period of tough party negotiations and I believe that the government will not be as stable as expected, says political analyst Nikola Spasov.

At times, it was completely even between the parties during the counting of votes.

Nationalist party

Should the Social Democrats fail to form a coalition government, the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE, which received 34.5 percent of the vote in the election, could get a chance to form a government.

The election is the first since northern Macedonia changed its name, which the Social Democratic government pushed through in February last year to pave the way for EU accession. But once Macedonia became Northern Macedonia, it turned out that the road to membership was still long. The setback prompted Zaev to call new elections.

The parliamentary elections were supposed to have taken place in April, but were postponed as a result of the corona pandemic. The election has not only been about who should be given the confidence to form a government, but also about the direction in which the nation should move.