Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah in a letter on Thursday asked the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, for clarification about the EU’s "congratulation of President Ghani."

Abdullah, tweeting about the letter, said: “I requested clarification. Reminding our international friends: Systemic fraud and serious electoral irregularities at the behest of a rival team produced results that are illegal and unacceptable to most Afghans.”

“As the rightful winners, we decided to form an inclusive government and engage all sides to aim for a just and cohesive outcome. We also ask our international friends to remain impartial, adhere to their principled positions and respect a fair and legal Afghan process and results,” Abdullah tweeted.

In the letter, Abdullah said the EU representative's position on the Afghan election result is “unprincipled,” and it “ignores the principles of the EU in defending  democracy and the transparency of elections.”

Abdullah said to Borrell: “You have congratulated a fraudulent team.”

Borrell called president Ashraf Ghani "to congratulate him on the outcome of the electoral process," a press release issued from the EU in Brussels said on Wednesday.

“EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, called the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, today to congratulate him on the outcome of the electoral process,” the press release read.

According to the press release, Josep Borrell welcomed the fact that months of intensive verification and an appeal process engaging all interested parties had come to an end.

The press release states that the EU therefore takes good note of the final results of the electoral process.

The European Union looks forward to continuing the work with the new administration under President Ghani, says the press release.

Foreign embassies in Kabul, world leaders and diplomats have been, for the most part, silent about the announced election results. 
 
The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) stated it "takes note" of the final election results, but said it also notes the concerns of the rival candidates. 

The Indian government, Kuwait, and US Senator Lindsey Graham congratulated President Ghani for winning the election. 
 
At home, Ghani’s rivals, among them presidential candidates Abdullah Abdullah, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Rahmatullah Nabil, Mohammad Hakim Torsan and Shahab Hakimi have rejected the results as “fraud”.

The election results final announcement  was met with mixed reactions among Afghans:

“The validation from other countries can bring attention to our interactions,” said Faramarz Tamanna, a presidential candidate who quit the election race in favor of incumbent Ashraf Ghani.

“Other messages may be on the way. We have good relations with all countries. The oath-taking ceremony will be held very soon,” said Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for Ashraf Ghani.

“Over the past twenty years, we lost golden opportunities to improve democracy and democratic institutions in Afghanistan...we lost all the opportunities,” said Aziz Rafaee, a civil society activist in Kabul.  

Meanwhile, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad met Afghan former president Hamid Karzai and the two sides discussed the peace process and the situation following the announcement of the election results.

According to Karzai’s office, in the meeting Karzai expressed his concerns about the situation arising from the aftermath of the election process.

On Tuesday, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced President Ashraf Ghani as winner of Afghanistan’s presidential election, but hours after the announcement Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah announced the formation of a separate “inclusive government” and declared his own “victory” in the polls.

The results of the election, according to the IEC, indicated that President Ashraf Ghani had the highest count with 50.6% of the total amount with 923,592 votes, while Abdullah had 39.52% of the total amount, with 720,841 votes, according to the IEC.

IEC chairperson Hawa Alam Nuristani announced Mohammad Ashraf Ghani as the “elected president of Afghanistan” with 50.6%.