Events
January
- 1 January
- Greece takes over the presidency of the European Union.
- Latvia becomes the 18th EU member state to adopt the euro despite public opposition. [1] [2]
- Jamal al-Jamal, the Palestinian ambassador to the Czech Republic, is killed in an explosion near his home in Prague. [3] [4]
- 7 January – Four U.S. Air Force personnel die after a military helicopter crashes near Cley, on the North Sea coast of England. [5] [6]
- 11 January – About 110,000 people march peacefully through Bilbao, demanding Basque independence and freedom for more than 600 ETA prisoners. [7] [8]
- 22 January – At least five people are shot dead and hundreds injured as demonstrators clash with police over new laws limiting the right to protest in Ukraine. [9] [10] [11]
- 23 January – At least 20 people are killed and 28 injured when a bus veers off a road in central Turkey. [12]
- 28 January – Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov submits his resignation to President Viktor Yanukovych in a bid to defuse the conflict in Ukraine. [13] [14]
February
- 2 February
- 4 February – At least 13 people die and five others are injured when a commuter train slams into a shuttle bus in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. [18]
- 6 February – More than 130 people, including 104 police officers, are injured in a second day of anti-government demonstrations in the Bosnian town of Tuzla. [19]
- 7 February
- The opening ceremony of the XXII Olympic Winter Games is held in the Russian city of Sochi. [20]
- The earliest human footprints outside Africa are discovered in Norfolk, United Kingdom. [21]
- About 30 police officers are injured in the Kosovo capital Pristina in clashes with students protesting over suspicions of fraud in the state university. [22]
- 9 February – In a national referendum, Swiss voters approve re-imposing quotas on immigration from European Union countries. [23] [24] [25]
- 13 February – Belgium becomes the first country to legalise euthanasia without any age limits. [26]
- 14 February – Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta resigns after pressure from his own Democratic Party to step down. [27] [28]
- 18 February – Seven miners are killed and nine injured in an explosion at the Pivnichna coal mine in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast. [29] [30]
- 20 February – At least 106 people are dead and large parts of Kyiv's occupied Independence Square are burning after a bloody escalation of Ukraine's three-month political crisis. [31] [32] [33]
- 22 February
- The Parliament of Ukraine removes President Viktor Yanukovych from office and frees ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. [34] [35] The dismissed President describes measures taken by the Parliament as a "coup". [36]
- The Secretary of the Democratic Party, Matteo Renzi, is appointed Prime Minister of Italy by President Giorgio Napolitano. Renzi is the youngest Prime Minister in the history of Italy. [37]
March
- 1 March – Russian Federation Council approves military intervention in Ukraine amid growing tensions in Crimea. [38] [39] [40]
- 4 March – After nine years in office, Estonian PM Andrus Ansip announces his resignation to enable a successor to lead his party into 2015 elections. [41]
- 16 March – People in Crimea vote overwhelmingly to leave Ukraine and rejoin Russia. Ukraine, the European Union, and the United States condemn the move. [42] [43] [44]
- 21 March – Russia formally annexes Crimea [45] [46] while the European Union and Ukraine sign an association agreement. [47] [48]
- 22 March – 101 people are injured and 29 arrested after an anti-austerity march turns violent in Madrid.[ citation needed ]
- 24 March – The U.S. and Western allies cancel G8 summit in Sochi, excluding Russia from group. [49] [50] [51]
- 27 March – Turkey blocks access to YouTube after a high-level intelligence leak. [52] [53]
- 29 March – Philanthropist Andrej Kiska wins Slovakia's presidential run-off against current Prime Minister Robert Fico. [54] [55]
April
- 4 April – 20 people are injured as protesters from across Europe clash with police in Brussels at a demonstration against high unemployment. [56]
- 7 April – Pro-Russian activists occupying a government building in Donetsk proclaim the creation of a sovereign Donetsk People's Republic, independent from the central government in Kyiv. [57] The same action is taken by protesters in Kharkiv.[ citation needed ]
- 10 April – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe suspends Russia's right to vote and take part in election observations as a consequence to its takeover of Crimea. [58] [59]
- 11 April – Seven people are killed when an explosion caused by leaking gas tears through a coal mine near the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. [60]
- 12 April – An anti-austerity protest in Rome turns violent, 80 people being injured in clashes between angry protesters and riot police. [61]
- 16 April
- Pro-Russian separatists in Odesa announced the creation of Odesa People's Republic and urged residents to block traffic in the city. [62]
- The Supreme Soviet of Tiraspol votes unanimously a solicitation to the State Duma, the Federation Council and President Vladimir Putin to recognize Transnistrian independence and annexation to Russia. [63] [64] Romanian Foreign Minister condemns vigorously this action, cataloging it as a defiance to Moldova's territorial integrity. [65]
- 27 April – Popes John XXIII and John Paul II are declared saints by Pope Francis in the first papal canonization since 1954. [66] [67]
- 28 April – Gjorge Ivanov is re-elected President of the Republic of Macedonia, while the ruling coalition led by VMRO-DPMNE win plurality in the Parliament. [68]
May
- 1 May – Large demonstrations are organised in major European cities with the occasion of Labor Day.[ citation needed ] In Moscow, over 100,000 march through the Red Square, reviving a tradition last seen before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.[ citation needed ] In Istanbul, 90 people are injured and 142 arrested after security forces assault protesters, using water cannons and tear gas.[ citation needed ]
- 2 May – The Ukrainian government launches an offensive on pro-Russian rebels in Sloviansk while clashes in Odesa kill 46 people. [69] [70]
- 5 May
- Slovenian Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek resigns after losing the leadership of her party 10 days ago. [71]
- At least 22 people are dead and seven missing after two boats carrying illegal immigrants collide in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Greece. [72] [73]
- 10 May – "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Austrian singer Conchita Wurst wins the Eurovision Song Contest. [74] [75] [76]
- 12 May – Pro-Russian insurgents in Donetsk and Luhansk declare the cities independent states whilst on choosing to join Russia after controversial hastily arranged referendums. [77]
- 13 May – An explosion and fire in a coal mine in western Turkey kill at least 301 miners [78] and trap dozens more. [79] [80]
- 17 May – At least 80 people are killed after days of heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding in Southeast Europe. [81] [82] [83]
- 20 May – A freight train collides with a passenger train near Moscow, killing at least nine people and injuring 51 others. [84]
- 22 May – At least 16 Ukrainian soldiers are killed by pro-Russian separatists who ambush their checkpoint in Donetsk Oblast. [85] Hours after the assault on the checkpoint, rebel leaders in neighboring Luhansk impose martial law until government troops cease their offensive. [86]
- 24 May
- Four people are killed in a shooting at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels. [87] [88]
- 278 people are injured and dozens of buildings damaged as 6.9 earthquake strikes off Samothrace, Greece. [89]
- "Winter Sleep", directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, wins the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. [90]
- 25 May
- The pro-European businessman Petro Poroshenko wins the presidential election in Ukraine with 56% of the vote. [91] [92]
- Lithuania's incumbent President Dalia Grybauskaitė declares victory following a second round of voting in the Baltic country's presidential elections. [93] [94]
- Eurosceptic and far-right parties seize ground in elections to the European parliament, in what France's PM called a "political earthquake". [95]
- 27 May – At least 40 pro-Russian separatists die in fighting over control of Donetsk International Airport. [96]
June
- 1 June – Slovenian President Borut Pahor dissolves parliament and schedules an early election for 13 July. [97]
- 2 June – Spain's King Juan Carlos abdicates after 38 years on the throne and his son Prince Felipe will succeed him. [98] [99] The announcement of the abdication is followed by large anti-monarchy demonstrations in Madrid and Barcelona.[ citation needed ]
- 14 June – A Ukraine military Ilyushin Il-76 airlifter is shot down, killing all 49 people on board.[ citation needed ]
- 16 June – Russia cuts off gas to Ukraine in a dispute over unpaid bills that could disrupt supplies to the rest of Europe. [100] [101]
- 20 June – At least 14 people are killed and several are missing after torrential rains cause flash flooding in northeastern Bulgaria. [102] [103]
- 27 June – Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova sign the European Union Association Agreement. [104] [105]
July
- 1 July – Italy takes over the presidency of the European Union.
- 2 July – Two migrant boats capsize in the Mediterranean Sea, resulting in the death of 115 people. [106] [107]
- 15 July
- 23 people are killed [108] and over 160 injured as several subway cars derail on the Moscow Metro. [109]
- The European Parliament votes to elect Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the European Commission. [110]
- 17 July – A Malaysian Airlines passenger plane is shot down on the Russian–Ukraine border, killing all 298 people on board. [111] [112]
- 19 July – A crash involving several buses on a highway in eastern Germany kills 10 people and injures 69. [113]
- 23 July – Bulgaria's Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski resigns ahead of snap elections to end months of political turmoil. [114] [115]
- 24 July – Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk resigns after the governing coalition collapses. [116]
- 25 July – Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for Regional Policy Volodymyr Groysman is appointed as acting prime minister. [117]
- 28 July – The Hague's Permanent Court of Arbitration orders Russia to repay US$50 billion to shareholders of the Yukos Oil Company for breaching the Energy Charter Treaty. [118] [119]
August
- 10 August – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wins Turkey's first direct presidential election. [120] [121]
- 25 August
- The Prime Minister of France Manuel Valls presents President François Hollande with the resignation of the cabinet, with a new cabinet to be appointed next day. [122] [123]
- The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko dissolves the Parliament and calls new elections for 26 October. [124]
- 30 August – EU leaders appoint Italy's Federica Mogherini as EU foreign policy chief and Poland's Donald Tusk as European Council president. [125]
- 31 August – Eight people are killed and eleven others injured after an explosion destroys a four-storey building in a suburb of Paris. [126]
September
- 4 September – Over 150 state leaders and officials participate in the Newport Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is the first time a NATO summit will be held in Britain outside London.
- 11 September
- About 500 migrants are feared dead after their ship is rammed by another boat near Malta. [127] [128]
- Up to 1.8 million people form a human chain in the largest demonstration for the independence of Catalonia. [129]
- 14 September – The Social Democrats, led by Stefan Löfven, win a plurality in the Swedish general election. [130] [131]
- 18 September – Scotland votes against independence from the United Kingdom. [132] [133] [134]
- 21 September – More than 26,000 people in Moscow participate in the largest demonstration so far against Russian president Vladimir Putin and the War in Donbass. [135] [136]
October
- 2 October – A series of powerful blasts at a Bulgarian explosives plant kills 15 employees and injures three others. [137] [138]
- 5 October – A truck enters into a column of 40 cars near Thessaloniki, Greece, killing five people and injuring 32. [139]
- 9 October – Estonia becomes the first former Soviet republic to legalize gay partnerships and grant equal rights to same-sex couples. [140]
- 26 October – Pro-Western parties led by Ukraine's PM and president win almost 50% of the votes in the first parliamentary election after the revolution. [141] [142]
- 29 October – Up to 100,000 Hungarians rally in Budapest despite the government's amendment of a controversial internet tax bill. [143] [144]
- 30 October – Sweden officially recognises Palestine as a sovereign state. [145]
November
- 2 November – Aleksandr Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky win the general elections held in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. [146] Ukraine, the European Parliament and the United States don't recognize these elections. [147]
- 3 November – At least 24 migrants die after their boat sinks in Bosphorus Strait near Istanbul. [148] [149]
- 16 November – Klaus Iohannis becomes the first ethnic German President of Romania. [150] [151] [152]
- 30 November – Pro-European parties in Moldova win a narrow majority of votes in a strongly contested parliamentary election. [153] [154]
December
- 2 December – French Parliament votes for the recognition of the State of Palestine. [155]
- 4 December – Gunmen attack a police post and storm a building in Grozny, capital of Russia's southern province of Chechnya, killing 10 policemen in clashes in which 10 of the attackers are also killed. [156]
- 17 December – European Parliament adopts the resolution on recognition of Palestine statehood by 498 votes in favour. [157]
- 27 December – Andrei Kobyakov replaces Mikhail Myasnikovich as Belarus' new prime minister in the biggest government reshuffle since 2010. [158]
- 29 December – Five people are killed and 414 evacuated as ferry catches fire in the Ionian Sea. [159] [160]
