Albania's prime minister has thanked hundreds of thousands of voters who supported his Socialist Party in the last parliamentary elections, backing his pledge to take the country into the European Union in five years.

TIRANA (Reuters) - Albania's prime minister Edi Rama has secured an unprecedented fourth term in power as his Socialist Party sailed to victory in Sunday's parliamentary election, a near complete vote count showed on Tuesday.

Voting ended in Albania’s parliamentary election Sunday after a boisterous campaign dominated by the country’s uphill effort to join the European Union and Prime Minister Edi Rama’s bid for a fourth term.