2010 in Europe

This is a list of 2010 events that occurred in Europe.

Incumbents

Albania

• President – Bamir Topi (2007–2012)
• Prime Minister – Sali Berisha (2005–2013)

Andorra

• Co-Prince (French) – Nicolas Sarkozy (2007–2012)
• Co-Prince (Episcopal) – Joan Enric Vives Sicília (2003–2025)
• Head of Government – Jaume Bartumeu (2009–2011)

Armenia

• President – Serzh Sargsyan (2008–2018)
• Prime Minister – Tigran Sargsyan (2008–2014)

Austria

• President – Heinz Fischer (2004–2016)
• Chancellor – Werner Faymann (2008–2016)

Azerbaijan

• President – Ilham Aliyev (2003– )
• Prime Minister – Artur Rasizade (2003–2018)

Belarus

• President – Alexander Lukashenko (1994– )
• Prime Minister – Sergei Sidorsky (2003–28 December 2010); Mikhail Myasnikovich (28 December 2010–2014)

Belgium

• Monarch – Albert II (1993–2013)
• Prime Minister – Yves Leterme (2009–25 November 2010); Elio Di Rupo (6 December 2011–2014)
  • Note: Belgium operated under a **caretaker government** (Leterme) for most of 2010 following the collapse of the governing coalition in April.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Chair of the Presidency – Željko Komšić (2009–10 July 2010); Haris Silajdžić (10 July 2010–10 November 2010); Nebojša Radmanović (10 November 2010–2011)
• Chairman of the Council of Ministers – Nikola Špirić (2007–2012)

Bulgaria

• President – Georgi Parvanov (2002–2012)
• Prime Minister – Boyko Borisov (2009–2013)

Croatia

• President – Stjepan Mesić (2000–18 February 2010); Ivo Josipović (18 February 2010–2015)
• Prime Minister – Jadranka Kosor (2009–2011)

Cyprus

• President – Demetris Christofias (2008–2013)

Czech Republic

• President – Václav Klaus (2003–2013)
• Prime Minister – Jan Fischer (2009–28 June 2010); Petr Nečas (28 June 2010–2013)

Denmark

• Monarch – Margrethe II (1972–2024)
• Prime Minister – Lars Løkke Rasmussen (2009–2011)

Estonia

• President – Toomas Hendrik Ilves (2006–2016)
• Prime Minister – Andrus Ansip (2005–2014)

European Union

• President of the European Commission – José Manuel Barroso (2004–2014)
• President of the European Parliament – Jerzy Buzek (2009–2012)
• President of the European Council – Herman Van Rompuy (2009–2014)
• High Representative – Catherine Ashton (2009–2014)
• Presidency of the Council (First Half) – José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (for **Spain**) (1 January 2010–30 June 2010)
• Presidency of the Council (Second Half) – Yves Leterme (for **Belgium**) (1 July 2010–31 December 2010)

Finland

• President – Tarja Halonen (2000–2012)
• Prime Minister – Matti Vanhanen (2003–22 June 2010); Mari Kiviniemi (22 June 2010–2011)

France

• President – Nicolas Sarkozy (2007–2012)
• Prime Minister – François Fillon (2007–2012)

Georgia

• President – Mikheil Saakashvili (2008–2013)
• Prime Minister – Nika Gilauri (2009–2012)

Germany

• President – Horst Köhler (2004–31 May 2010; Resigned); Jens Böhrnsen (31 May 2010–30 June 2010; Acting); Christian Wulff (30 June 2010–2012)
• Chancellor – Angela Merkel (2005–2021)

Greece

• President – Karolos Papoulias (2005–2015)
• Prime Minister – George Papandreou (2009–2011)

Hungary

• President – László Sólyom (2005–6 August 2010); Pál Schmitt (6 August 2010–2012)
• Prime Minister – Gordon Bajnai (2009–29 May 2010); Viktor Orbán (29 May 2010– )

Iceland

• President – Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (1996–2016)
• Prime Minister – Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (2009–2013)

Ireland

• President – Mary McAleese (1997–2011)
• Taoiseach – Brian Cowen (2008–2011)

Italy

• President – Giorgio Napolitano (2006–2015)
• Prime Minister – Silvio Berlusconi (2008–2011)

Latvia

• President – Valdis Zatlers (2007–2011)
• Prime Minister – Valdis Dombrovskis (2009–2014)

Liechtenstein

• Monarch – Hans-Adam II (1989– )
• Head of Government – Klaus Tschütscher (2009–2013)

Lithuania

• President – Dalia Grybauskaitė (2009–2019)
• Prime Minister – Andrius Kubilius (2008–2012)

Luxembourg

• Monarch – Henri (2000– )
• Prime Minister – Jean-Claude Juncker (1995–2013)

Malta

• President – George Abela (2009–2014)
• Prime Minister – Lawrence Gonzi (2004–2013)

Moldova

• President – Mihai Ghimpu (2009–28 December 2010; Acting); Marian Lupu (28 December 2010–2012; Acting)
• Prime Minister – Vlad Filat (2009–2013)

Monaco

• Monarch – Albert II (2005– )
• Minister of State – Michel Roger (2010–2016)

Montenegro

• President – Filip Vujanović (2003–2018)
• Prime Minister – Milo Đukanović (2008–29 December 2010); Igor Lukšić (29 December 2010–2012)

Netherlands

• Monarch – Beatrix (1980–2013)
• Prime Prime Minister – Jan Peter Balkenende (2007–14 October 2010); Mark Rutte (14 October 2010–2024)

Macedonia (FYROM)

• President – Gjorge Ivanov (2009–2019)
• Prime Prime Minister – Nikola Gruevski (2006–2016)

Norway

• Monarch – Harald V (1991– )
• Prime Minister – Jens Stoltenberg (2005–2013)

Poland

• President – Lech Kaczyński (2005–10 April 2010; Died in plane crash); Bronisław Komorowski (10 April 2010–6 August 2010; Acting/Sworn in); Bronisław Komorowski (6 August 2010–2015)
• Prime Minister – Donald Tusk (2007–2014)

Portugal

• President – Aníbal Cavaco Silva (2006–2016)
• Prime Minister – José Sócrates (2005–2011)

Romania

• President – Traian Băsescu (2004–2014)
• Prime Minister – Emil Boc (2008–2012)

Russia

• President – Dmitry Medvedev (2008–2012)
• Prime Minister – Vladimir Putin (2008–2012)

San Marino

• Captains Regent – Stefano Simoncini & Giovanni Francesco Ugolini (1 October 2009–1 April 2010); Elisabetta Renzi & Michele Muratori (1 April 2010–1 October 2010); Giovanni Lonfernini & Firoenza Bollini (1 October 2010–1 April 2011)

Serbia

• President – Boris Tadić (2004–2012)
• Prime Prime Minister – Mirko Cvetković (2008–2012)

Slovakia

• President – Ivan Gašparovič (2004–2014)
• Prime Minister – Robert Fico (2006–8 July 2010); Iveta Radičová (8 July 2010–2012)

Slovenia

• President – Danilo Türk (2007–2012)
• Prime Minister – Borut Pahor (2008–2012)

Spain

• Monarch – Juan Carlos I (1975–2014)
• Prime Minister – José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004–2011)

Sweden

• Monarch – Carl XVI Gustaf (1973– )
• Prime Minister – Fredrik Reinfeldt (2006–2014)

Switzerland

• President of the Confederation – Doris Leuthard (2010)
• Federal Council – Collective Head of State and Government

Turkey

• President – Abdullah Gül (2007–2014)
• Prime Minister – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (2003–2014)

Ukraine

• President – Viktor Yushchenko (2005–25 February 2010); Viktor Yanukovych (25 February 2010–2014)
• Prime Prime Minister – Yulia Tymoshenko (2007–11 March 2010); Mykola Azarov (11 March 2010–2014)

United Kingdom

• Monarch – Elizabeth II (1952–2022)
• Prime Minister – Gordon Brown (2007–11 May 2010); David Cameron (11 May 2010–2016)

Vatican City

• Sovereign – Pope Benedict XVI (2005–2013)
• President of the Pontifical Commission – Giovanni Lajolo (2006–2011)
• Secretary of State – Tarcisio Bertone (2006–2013)

Events

January

Heavy snowfall in Alton, England

• January 1: Spain assumed the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Sweden.
• January 3: Two passenger trains collided in Bilecik, Turkey. One train driver was killed and seven passengers were injured. ^[1]
• January 7: 22 people had died in the UK due to a cold snap. ^[2]
• January 10: The opposition Social Democrat, Ivo Josipović, won 60.3% of the vote in the second round run-off, beating the mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić. ^[3]
• January 11: More than 5,300 residents in the regions of Shkodër and Lezhë were evacuated due to severe flooding in northern Albania. ^[4]
• January 25: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after take-off from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport, killing all 90 people on board. ^[5]

February

• February 3: The sculpture L'Homme qui marche I by Alberto Giacometti sells in London for £65 million (US$103.7 million), setting a new world record for a work of art sold at auction. ^[6]
• February 16: A bus carrying French children on a school trip has overturned in Italy, killing at least three people on board and injuring another 20. ^[7]
• February 18: A scattered exchange of gunfire on the line of contact dividing Azerbaijani and the Karabakh Armenian military forces left six people dead and one wounded. ^[8]
• February 25: A collision between two trains in Buizingen, Belgium, left 18 people dead and 162 injured. ^[9]
• February 26: At least 63 people were killed and one million homes were left without power in western France after cyclone Xynthia crossed Western Europe. ^{[10] [11]}

March

• March 20: 67 people were arrested and several people were injured in Bolton town centre during a clash between members of the English Defence League and Unite Against Fascism. ^[12]
• March 24: A set of 16 goods wagons runaway for 8 km from a freight station at Alnabru in Oslo to hit and destroy a quayside warehouse. Three people died, and four were seriously injured. ^[13]
• March 29: At least 40 people died after two female suicide bombers struck the Moscow Metro. ^{[14] [15]}
• March 31: A coach crashed into a river after falling from a bridge in a snowstorm in Lanark, Scotland, killing a 17-year-old girl and injuring 44 passengers. ^[16]

April

Merano derailment

The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull seen from Þórolfsfell

• April 1: A locomotive ran into a stationary passengers tram after its brakes failed during a test ride in Spišská Nová Ves, Slovakia, killing three people and injuring seriously eight others. ^[17]
• April 10: The President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, was among 96 killed when their airplane crashed in western Russia. ^[18]
• April 12: A passenger train was hit by a landslide and partially derailed near Merano, Italy, killing 9 and injuring 28. ^[19]
• April 14: Over 95,000 flights had been cancelled all across Europe because violent eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull. ^[20]
• April 25: Austrian candidate for chairmanship, Heinz Fischer, won the presidential election with 79.3% of the valid votes. ^[21]

May

Flooding in Bielsko-Biała

Demonstrators in front of the Greek Parliament, 29 May

• May 5: Up to 500,000 people protested in front of the Greek Parliament amid plans to cut public spending and raise taxes as austerity measures in exchange for a €110 billion bail-out. ^[22] The protest degenerated in violences between protesters and riot police, resulting in three deaths and dozens of injuries. ^[23]
• May 14: Throughout Eastern Europe, 21 people were killed in floods triggered by the Windstorm Yolanda.
• May 24: Three people were killed and 35 injured when a Honda Civic car collided with a school bus near Keswick, Cumbria. ^[24]

June

• June 2: 13 people were killed and 25 injured in a shooting spree in Cumbria, England. ^{[25] [26]}
• June 6: A passenger train collided with boulders that had fallen on the line near Falls of Cruachan, Scotland, derailed and caught fire. Several people were hospitalised and the line was blocked for a week. ^[27]
• June 15: Heavy rainfall in southern France caused severe floods in the department of Var, resulting in at least 25 deaths. ^[28]
• June 23: A passenger train struck a group of people who were crossing the railway on the level at Platja de Castelldefels station near Barcelona. ^[29] Twelve people were killed, and fourteen injured. ^[30]

July

Love Parade disaster

• July 1: Belgium assumed the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Spain.
• July 11: A traffic accident, near Inishowen, in Ireland, killed eight people. ^[31]
• July 13: Two trains collided at Korzybie, in north Poland, injuring 36 people. ^[32]
• July 18: Fourteen people were killed and twelve injured after a bus fell off a cliff in northern Albania, near the city of Durrës. ^[33]
• July 23: One person was killed and 42 were injured when an eastbound Glacier Express derailed near Fiesch on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn. ^[34]
• July 24: At least 21 people have been killed and 510 more injured in a stampede at the Love Parade dance music festival in the German city of Duisburg. ^[35]

August

• August 6: One person died and about 40 were injured in a train derailment in Naples, Italy, on the Circumvesuviana railway. ^[36]
• August 17
  • A sewage tanker lorry struck and derailed a passenger train on a level crossing at Little Cornard, England. 21 people were injured. ^[37]
  • The Intercity-Express from Frankfurt to Paris hit a truck that had slid onto the rail near Lambrecht. The first two carriages derailed and ten people were injured. ^[38]

September

• September 19:
  • In the 2010 Swedish general election, the nationalist Sweden Democrats won representation in the Swedish Riksdag for the first time. It has held seats, since then.
  • A woman armed with an automatic weapon has shot dead three people and injured 18 others at a hospital in Germany before being killed by police. ^{[39] [40]}
• September 26: A Polish tourist bus returning from Spain careered into a bridge on a rain-soaked German motorway, killing 13 people. ^[41]

October

Ajka alumina plant accident

The French Union Solidaires protesting in the Place du Martroi in Orléans

• October 1: 40 people were injured when a train derailed at Skotterud, Norway. ^[42]
• October 4: Nine people died and 122 were injured in flooding from a ruptured red sludge reservoir at the Ajkai Timföldgyár alumina plant, Hungary. ^[43]
• October 12
  • A bus packed with rush-hour commuters crashed into a train at a level crossing in Ukraine after jumping a red traffic light, killing 45 people and leaving another 9 wounded. ^[44]
  • At most 3.5 million people attended a series of demonstrations organised by the French Union leaders throughout France. ^[45]

November

• November 11: More than 25,000 students protested in Dublin against increased student fees. ^[46]

December

• December 10: Former Prime Minister of Croatia, Ivo Sanader, was arrested in Austria over charges of corruption. ^[47]

Date unknown

• France becomes the first European country to impose a ban on full-face veils in public areas.

Deaths

January

• January 11
  • Miep Gies, 100, Dutch humanitarian (b. 1909)
  • Eric Rohmer, 89, French film director (b. 1920)
• January 19 - Panajot Pano, 70, Albanian footballer (b. 1939)
• January 22 - Jean Simmons, 80, British actress (b. 1929)

February

• February 1 - Steingrimur Hermannsson, 81, 19th Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1928)
• February 6 - John Dankworth, 82, British jazz musician and composer (b. 1927)
• February 11 - Alexander McQueen, 40, British fashion designer (b. 1969)
• February 14 - Dick Francis, 89, British author and jockey (b. 1920)

March

• March 3 - Michael Foot, 96, British politician (b. 1913)
• March 12 - Miguel Delibes, 89, Spanish author and journalist (b. 1920)
• March 21 - Wolfgang Wagner, 90, German festival director (b. 1919)
• March 22
  • James Black, 85, British pharmacologist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1924)
  • Valentina Tolkunova, 63, Soviet and Russian singer (b. 1946)
• March 27 - Vasily Smyslov, 89, Soviet-Russian chess grandmaster (b. 1921)
• March 30 - Martin Sandberger, 98, German army officer (b. 1911)

April

• April 6 - Corin Redgrave, 70, British actor and political activist (b. 1939)
• April 8 - Malcolm McLaren, 64, British musician and manager (b. 1946)
• April 10
  • Ryszard Kaczorowski, 90, Polish statesman (b. 1919)
  • Lech Kaczynski, 60, President of Poland (b. 1949)
• April 16 - Tomas Spidlik, 90, Czech cardinal (b. 1919)
• April 21 - Juan Antonio Samaranch, 89, Spanish sports official (b. 1920)
• April 25 - Alan Sillitoe, 82, British writer (b. 1928)
• April 30 - Paul Mayer, 98, German cardinal (b. 1911)

May

• May 2 - Lynn Redgrave, 67, British actress (b. 1943)
• May 4 - Luigi Poggi, 92, Italian cardinal (b. 1917)
• May 5 - Giulietta Simionato, 99, Italian opera singer (b. 1910)
• May 8 - Andor Lilienthal, 99, Hungarian chess grandmaster (b. 1911)
• May 15 - Besian Idrizaj, 22, Austrian footballer (b. 1987)
• May 17
  • Bobbejaan Schoepen, 85, Belgian singer (b. 1925)
  • Yvonne Loriod, 86, French pianist (b. 1924)
• May 18 - Edoardo Sanguineti, 79, Italian writer (b. 1930)
• May 31 - Louise Bourgeois, 98, French-born American sculptor (b. 1911)

June

• June 1 - Andrei Voznesensky, 77, Soviet-Russian poet (b. 1933)
• June 2 - Giuseppe Taddei, 93, Italian baritone (b. 1916)
• June 3 - Vladimir Arnold, 72, Soviet-Russian mathematician (b. 1937)
• June 9 - Marina Semyonova, 101, Russian ballerina (b. 1908)
• June 10 - Sigmar Polke, 69, German painter and photographer (b. 1941)
• June 14 - Leonid Kizim, 68, Soviet-Ukrainian cosmonaut (b. 1941)
• June 16 - Ronald Neame, 99, British cinematographer, producer and director (b. 1911)
• June 18
  • Marcel Bigeard, 94, French military officer (b. 1916)
  • Jose Saramago, 87, Portuguese writer and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1922)
• June 26 - Algirdas Brazauskas, 77, 9th President of Lithuania (b. 1932)

July

• July 2 - Beryl Bainbridge, 76, British novelist (b. 1934)
• July 5 - Cesare Siepi, 87, Italian opera singer (b. 1923)
• July 17 - Bernard Giraudeau, 63, French actor and film director (b. 1947)
• July 24 - Alex Higgins, 61, Northern Irish snooker player (b. 1949)

August

• August 6 - Tony Judt, 62, British historian (b. 1948)
• August 7 - Bruno Cremer, 80, French actor (b. 1923)
• August 12 - Guido de Marco, 79, 6th President of Malta (b. 1931)
• August 16 - Nicola Cabibbo, 75, Italian physicist (b. 1935)
• August 17 - Francesco Cossiga, 82, 63rd Prime Minister and 8th President of Italy (b. 1928)
• August 18 - Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, 80, Spanish aristocrat (b. 1930)
• August 26 - Raimon Panikkar, 91, Spanish theologian (b. 1918)
• August 27 - Anton Geesink, 76, Dutch judoka (b. 1934)
• August 30 - Alain Corneau, 67, French filmmaker (b. 1943)
• August 31 - Laurent Fignon, 50, French road bicycle racer (b. 1960)

September

• September 9 - Bent Larsen, 75, Danish chess grandmaster (b. 1935)
• September 12 - Claude Chabrol, 80, French film director (b. 1930)
• September 29 - Georges Charpak, 86, French Nobel physicist (b. 1924)

October

• October 4 - Norman Wisdom, 95, British actor and comedian (b. 1915)
• October 9 - Maurice Allais, 99, French Nobel economist (b. 1911)
• October 14 - Benoit Mandelbrot, 85, French-American mathematician (b. 1924)
• October 30 - Harry Mulisch, 83, Dutch writer (b. 1927)

November

• November 2 - Rudolf Barshai, 86, Soviet-Russian conductor and violist (b. 1924)
• November 3 - Viktor Chernomyrdin, 72, 31st Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1938)
• November 5 - Hajo Herrmann, 97, German fighter pilot and lawyer (b. 1913)
• November 10 - Dino De Laurentiis, 91, Italian film producer (b. 1919)
• November 12 - Henryk Gorecki, 76, Polish composer (b. 1933)
• November 13 - Luis Garcia Berlanga, 89, Spanish film director (b. 1921)
• November 17 - Isabelle Caro, 30, French model and actress (b. 1930)
• November 29
  • Bella Akhmadulina, 73, Soviet-Russian poet (b. 1937)
  • Mario Monicelli, 95, Italian actor, screenwriter and director (b. 1915)

December

• December 12 - Tom Walkinshaw, 64, British racing car driver and team owner (b. 1946)
• December 21 - Enzo Bearzot, 83, Italian footballer and coach (b. 1927)

See also

• Europe portal
• 2010s portal

• 2010 in the European Union
• List of state leaders in 2010 § Europe

References

1. "Trains collide in northern Turkey", BBC News
2. "Deaths during Britain's big freeze", The Times
3. "Social Democrat Ivo Josipovic elected Croatia president", BBC News
4. "Floods in Albania", NATO
5. "Ethiopia Airlines jet 'black box' retrieved in Lebanon", BBC News
6. "Giacometti Sculpture 'L'Homme qui marche I' Fetches $104.3 Million, World Record", Huffington Post
7. "French pupils in fatal bus crash in Italy", BBC News
8. "Azerbaijan announces names of soldiers killed and wounded by Armenian fire" Archived February 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine , News.az
9. "Belgian train crash: Eighteen people dead in Halle", BBC News
10. "Storm batters Europe, at least 55 dead", CNN
11. "At least 50 dead in western Europe storms", BBC News
12. "Police battle to control EDL and UAF protest in Bolton", BBC News
13. (in Norwegian) "Trodde vognene hang fast i skiftelok" Archived 2012-10-07 at the Wayback Machine , Aftenposten.no
14. "Russia braces for terrorism's return as 38 die in subway bombings", The Washington Post
15. "Russian police release subway bomb suspects' photos", CNN
16. "Teenage girl dies in coach crash", BBC News
17. "At least sixty four people in Slovak train", Earth Times
18. "Polish president Lech Kaczynski killed in plane crash", The Guardian
19. "Landslide derails train in Italy leaving nine dead", BBC News
20. "Ash cloud chaos: Airlines face huge task as ban ends", BBC News
21. (in German) "Bundespräsidentenwahl 2010", Federal Ministry of the Interior
22. "Three dead as Greece protest turns violent", BBC News
23. "Greek bailout: Athens burns – and crisis strikes at heart of the EU", The Guardian
24. "Two pupils and man killed in Cumbria bus crash named", BBC News
25. "Cumbria shooting: police hunt gunman after 'several shot dead'", The Telegraph
26. "Cumbria shooting rampage suspect's 'body found'", BBC News
27. "Boulders 'caused Glasgow to Oban rail derailment'", BBC News
28. (in French) "Var: Le bilan des inondations s'alourdit à 25 morts", Le Monde
29. (in Spanish) "Confusión hasta última hora sobre el número de muertos en Castelldefels", El País
30. "Spanish train kills 12 on tracks near Barcelona", BBC News
31. "Eight-death crash 'worst on record'", Independent.ie
32. (in Polish) "Wypadek kolejowy w Korzybiu. Rannych zostało 36 osób. Kibice oddają krew", GP24.pl
33. "Fourteen killed in northern Albania bus crash", BBC News
34. "Driver error to blame for Glacier Express crash", Euronews
35. "Stampede at German Love Parade festival kills 19", BBC News
36. (in Italian) "Deraglia la Circumvesuviana, un morto", Repubblica.it
37. "Suffolk train and lorry level crossing smash injures 21", BBC News
38. "Lambrecht - Charedi Man Amongst Rescued In Germany's High Speed Train Crash", Vosizneias.com
39. "Fatal shooting at German hospital", BBC News
40. "Woman opens fire in German town, four killed", Reuters
41. "Thirteen killed in Polish tourist bus crash in Germany", Asiaone.com
42. "Train derails on Norway-Sweden border, injuring 40", Yahoo! News
43. "Hungary declares a state of emergency after sludge disaster", The Guardian
44. "Ukraine train and bus collision kills 42", BBC News
45. "French police frustrated by new strike blockades", BBC News
46. "25,000 protest against fees increase", The Irish Times
47. "Croatian ex-PM Ivo Sanader arrested in Austria", BBC News