Germany faces its second change of leader in less than four years after the head of the center-right opposition won Sunday’s election.

Germany's Robert Habeck, who had run in Sunday's election as the chancellor candidate for the environmentalist Greens, said he would no longer take a leading role in his party after what he described as a disappointing result.

Friedrich Merz, likely Germany's next chancellor, said he was under "no illusions" about the White House's impact on campaigning as the far-right AfD surged to a historic high.

Provisional results confirmed that mainstream conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won Germany's national election​, while a far-right party surged to become the nation's second-largest.

Germany's center-right alliance appears set to win the country's latest federal election, which comes at a critical moment for Europe's largest economy. The latest exit polls show the Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party,