Events
January
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- 1 January
- Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes the 19th Eurozone country.[1]
- The Eurasian Economic Union between Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia comes into effect.[2]
- 3 January – The Islamic-rooted government of Turkey authorizes the building of the first church in the country since 1923.[3][4]
- 4 January – Eight people are presumed dead after the Cyprus-flagged cargo ship MV Cemfjord capsizes off the northern coast of Scotland.[5][6]
- 7 January – Gunmen attack the Paris office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people and injuring eleven.[7][8][9]
- 9 January – A member of the Islamic State attacks a Hypercacher kosher supermarket at Porte de Vincennes, Paris, killing four people and taking several hostages.[10][11]
- 11 January
- More than 3.7 million people, among them 60 heads of states and governments, march in France to condemn recent terrorist attacks in Paris.[12][13]
- Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović becomes the first female President of Croatia.[14]
- 13 January – A shell hits a bus in eastern Ukraine, killing 12 civilians and wounding 18 more.[15][16]
- 14 January – Giorgio Napolitano, the longest-serving President of Italy, resigns due to age.[17][18]
- 15 January – Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the franc's value relative to euro, causing a turmoil in international financial markets.[19][20]
- 24 January – At least 29 civilians are killed and 102 injured in a mortar attack on Mariupol, Ukraine.[21]
- 25 January – The Coalition of the Radical Left wins a plurality of seats in the Greek legislative election and forms a coalition government with the Independent Greeks.[22][23][24]
- 26 January – An F-16 jet belonging to the Hellenic Air Force crashes at Los Llanos Air Base, Spain, during a NATO exercise, killing ten people and injuring 21.[25][26]
- 27 January – 92 policemen are injured and 180 protesters arrested as anti-government demonstrations in Pristina turn violent.[27][28]
- 31 January – Italy's parliament elects constitutional court judge Sergio Mattarella as the country's president.[29][30]
February
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- 12 February – The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany reach a ceasefire deal after 17 hours of talks in Minsk, Belarus, on the War in Donbass.[31][32][33]
- 14 February – Two people are killed in shootings at a free-speech seminar and at a synagogue service in Copenhagen.[34][35]
- 18 February – Conservative Prokopis Pavlopoulos is elected President of Greece.[36][37]
- 22 February – Two people are killed and 11 injured in an explosion at a peace rally in Kharkiv, Ukraine.[38]
- 24 February – A Czech gunman opens fire at a restaurant in Uherský Brod, killing eight people.[39][40]
- 27 February – Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov is assassinated in Moscow.[41] The murder of former deputy PM is condemned by world leaders[42] and sparks protests in Russia.[43]
March
- 1 March – The Estonian Reform Party, led by Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas, wins the country's parliamentary election.[44]
- 4 March – 33 people are killed and 14 injured following an explosion at Zasyadko coal mine in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine.[45][46]
- 12 March – Iceland formally withdraws its candidacy to the European Union, filed in 2009 and frozen since 2013.[47][48] The move is met with protests from civil society.[49]
- 20 March – A solar eclipse is visible across much of Europe, with totality over the Faroe Islands and Svalbard.
- 24 March – Germanwings Flight 9525 crashes in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.[50][51][52][53]
