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Chris Hipkins is set to become New Zealand's next prime minister after emerging on Saturday as the only candidate to lead the ruling Labour Party.
The 44-year-old will replace Jacinda Ardern, loved by many, who made a shock announcement this week that she had 'no more in the tank' and was throwing in the towel.
"I hope New Zealanders see me as someone who is outspoken, unafraid to admit mistakes and who is self-deprecating," Hipkins told reporters after he had been selected.
But who is he?
Hipkins -- known as 'Chippy' -- became a household name during the COVID pandemic. He took a largely crisis management role, sealing the country's borders, and built a reputationfor competence in tackling the virus.
Still, this was not without the odd gaffe. At a press conference in August 2021, Hipkins made an X-rated faux pas when he told people during a lockdown they could still go outside and "spread their legs" -- something which drew plenty of mirth online.
He admitted last year that people were fed up with tough pandemic restrictions, describing border closures as "difficult".
Despite his role during the pandemic, Hipkins and other liberals stood in the shadow of Ardern, a global icon of the left who exemplified a new style of leadership.
'Tough and competent'
Hipkins has served as Police Minister since June 2022, besides holding the education portfolio.
He is more of a centrist than Arden and is known as a political trouble-shooter, taking on a variety of roles to iron out problems created by other lawmakers.
His role overseeing policing is significant, as crime has become a key criticism of Arden's government.
Political columnist Josie Pagani called Hipkins "sensitive, sympathetic, tough and competent".
The 44-year describes himself as an 'outdoor enthusiast' who enjoys mountain biking, hiking and swimming. He studied politics and criminology at the University of Victoria and later worked in the industrial training sector.
Although known as a kind and easy-going conversationalist, Hipkins was embroiled in high-profile feuds with Australia's former Conservative government.
In 2021, he accused Australia of "exporting its rubbish" to New Zealand -- a reference to Canberra's controversial policy of deporting criminals to their country of birth.
A few years earlier, Hipkins was admonished by Ardern for his role in a dual citizenship scandal in the Australian Parliament.
Then-deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was forced to resign after information given to Hipkins revealed Joyce was a dual citizen of both Australia and New Zealand.
Australia forbids politicians from sitting in parliament if they hold dual nationality.
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At the time, Ardern said Hipkins' actions were "unacceptable".
'He is extremely capable'
Hipkins' political experience is seen by some commentators as a feather in his cap.
Previously, he served for more than five years as Minister of Education and Minister of Public Service. Before becoming an MP in 2008, Hipkins was the senior adviser to two ministers and former Prime Minister Helen Clark.
He “will be an incredibly strong prime minister,” said Justice Minister Kiri Allan, a Maori Labour MP, herself considered for the leader post.
"He is extremely capable and has proven himself for New Zealand as one of our most important ministers over the past six years."
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It is not clear how he will lead, with Hipkins not getting drawn into discussing policy plans with reporters on Saturday.
A lawmaker for 15 years, he is considered more centrist than Ardern and colleagues hope that he will appeal to a broad range of voters.
But the Labour politician faces an up hill struggle, with an upcoming election this year.
Opinion polls have indicated that his party is trailing its main opponent, the conservative National Party.
Among his biggest challenges will be convincing voters that his party is managing the economy well.
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New Zealand's unemployment rate is relatively low at 3.3%, but inflation is high at 7.2%.
Some economists are predicting the country will go into recession this year.
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Croatia’s president said that efforts by the European Union to uphold democratic standards in member countries threatened to tear the bloc apart, and condemned EU efforts to financially penalise Hungary for its alleged breaches of rule of law standards.
President Zoran Milanovi？ made the statements during a news conference in Hungary’s capital Budapest on Friday following talks with his Hungarian counterpart Katalin Novák.
Milanovi？ echoed frequent Hungarian criticism of the EU, saying the bloc was overreaching in its powers over member states and that this excessive control had precipitated Brexit and driven the United Kingdom out.
United States of Europe
The EU shouldn’t become, he said, a “United States of Europe,” adding that EU procedures against Hungary, which have frozen billions of euros in funding to Budapest over corruption and rule of law concerns, threatened to destroy the 27-member bloc.
“This sort of approach (between the EU and Hungary) is deeply irritating,” he said, warning that “today it is Hungary, tomorrow it will be some bigger country that will need to be ’taught a lesson.’”
Milanovi？ won the presidential election in Croatia in late 2019 as a liberal and left-leaning candidate, a counterpoint to the conservative government currently in power in the newest EU member state.
But he has since made a turn to populist nationalism, and criticised Western policies both toward the Balkans and Russia.
Populist nationalism
Milanovi？ has thus developed a reputation as pro-Russia, which he has denied. Yet in recent months, he has openly opposed the admission of Finland and Sweden into NATO amid the war in Ukraine, and the training of Ukrainian troops in Croatia as part of EU aid to the embattled country.
While the heads of state said they both condemn Russian aggression in Ukraine and support its territorial integrity, Milanovi？ said he, like Hungary’s government, doesn’t support sanctions against Moscow, and characterised the conflict in Ukraine as a proxy war between Russia and the United States.
“The question is how much damage (sanctions) will bring upon us. It creates damage to Europe,” Milanovi？ said.
“We managed to bring Russia and China closer together. In whose interest is this? All those questions will have to be answered to me, especially by those who are making those decisions in my name. I demand an answer.”
Katalin Novak, President of HungaryAP Photo
Novák on Friday told the news conference that she welcomed Croatia’s January 1 entrance into the 27-country Schengen Area, a zone of border-free travel in Europe.
With the entrance of Croatia into the zone, a border fence separating Hungary and Croatia was subsequently dismantled, a change that Novák said would grow tourism and ease travel between the neighbouring countries and move the EU’s external borders further to the south.
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Diplomatic envoys visited Kosovo and Serbia on Friday as part of their ongoing efforts to defuse tensions and help secure a reconciliation agreement between the two former war foes.
Envoys from the United States, the European Union, France, Germany and Italy first met with Prime Minister Albin Kurti in Kosovo.
They later met in Belgrade with President Aleksandar Vucic to discuss possible next steps toward normalising relations between Serbia and Kosovo.
Kosovo independence
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
Serbia, with support from allies Russia and China, has refused to recognise Kosovo’s statehood, which is accepted by the US and much of the West.
The dispute remains a source of instability in the Balkans amid Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
After more than two hours of “long, ... not easy, but ... very honest, very open” talks with Kurti, EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak said it was too soon to announce any dramatic developments on a proposal presented to Pristina and Belgrade last year.
“We had expected better understanding of the opportunities this proposal offers," said Lajcak, a former foreign minister of Slovakia. "I hope we will get there, to full understanding and full use of the potential of this proposal.”
Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo
The EU has spent more than a decade mediating dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade.
No details of the latest proposal have been made public.
“We are in the middle of our mission, and we continue to Belgrade,” Lajcak said.
After talks later with Vucic, Lajcak described the proposal as "the best way for the normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo and for European integration of the region.”
Vucic, Lajcak added, “demonstrated a responsible approach and willingness to take difficult decisions in the interest of peace and European perspective for Serbia.”
“We feel encouraged," he said. “Our work will continue without delay.”
Vucic said in a separate statement that he would hold further consultations within Serbia in the coming days and "that we are ready to accept the concept and work on the implementation of the proposed agreement," though one part remains disputable.
Frozen conflict
“We agreed that frozen conflict is not a solution, because when you have a frozen conflict, it is only a question of time when someone will unfreeze it," Vucic said.
Last month, the Western powers participated in resolving a tense situation in northern Kosovo, where Serbs erected barricades on the main roads to protest the arrest of a former Serb police officer.
The situation in the north remains volatile.
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Only a few dozen police officers of the EU rule of law mission, known as EULEX, are taking care of the area’s security after all ethnic Serb representatives resigned from their posts in November.
Serbia’s bloody crackdown against Kosovo Albanian separatists in 1999 ended with a 78-day NATO bombing campaign, which also pushed Serbian troops, police and paramilitary forces out of Kosovo.