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.

The Greens, once a rising force in German politics and a member of Scholz's coalition government with Habeck as economy minister, struggled to maintain their footing. Party leaders Franziska Brantner and Felix Banaszak plan to stay on, but Habeck is stepping aside.

The German Greens' top candidate, Robert Habeck, acknowledged that his party's showing in the election is likely to fall short of expectations in a speech to supporters on Sunday evening in Berlin. Habeck warned against the rise of right-wing populism and congratulated conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz,

Of all three former governing parties, the Greens performed best in the general election. But they have still landed in opposition and with little to celebrate.