2015 in Europe

This is a list of 2015 events that occurred in Europe.

Incumbents

Croatia

European Union

Ireland

Monaco

Russia

Turkey

Events

January

1 January
* Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes the 19th Eurozone country.
* The Eurasian Economic Union between Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia comes into effect.
3 January – The Islamic-rooted government of Turkey authorizes the building of the first church in the country since 1923.
4 January – Eight people are presumed dead after the Cyprus-flagged cargo ship MV Cemfjord capsizes off the northern coast of Scotland.
7 January – Gunmen attack the Paris office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people and injuring eleven.
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.
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.
* Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović becomes the first female President of Croatia.
13 January – A shell hits a bus in eastern Ukraine, killing 12 civilians and wounding 18 more.
14 January – Giorgio Napolitano, the longest-serving President of Italy, resigns due to age.
15 January – Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the franc's value relative to euro, causing a turmoil in international financial markets.
January - The Hungarian town Mayor of Ásotthalom László Toroczkai calls for a Hungarian border barrier in the south of the country, to deal with the growing 2015 migrant crisis.
24 January – At least 29 civilians are killed and 102 injured in a mortar attack on Mariupol, Ukraine.
25 January – The Coalition of the Radical Left wins a plurality of seats in the January [2015 Greek legislative election|Greek legislative election] and forms a coalition government with the Independent Greeks.
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.
27 January – 92 policemen are injured and 180 protesters arrested as anti-government demonstrations in Pristina turn violent.
31 January – Italy's parliament elects constitutional court judge Sergio Mattarella as the country's president.

February

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 Donbas.
14 February – Two people are killed in shootings at a free-speech seminar and at a synagogue service in Copenhagen.
18 February – Conservative Prokopis Pavlopoulos is elected President of Greece.
22 February – Two people are killed and 11 injured in an explosion at a peace rally in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
24 February – A Czech gunman opens fire at a restaurant in Uherský Brod, killing eight people.
27 February – Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov is assassinated in Moscow. The murder of former deputy PM is condemned by world leaders and sparks protests in Russia.

March

1 March – The Estonian Reform Party, led by Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas, wins the country's parliamentary election.
4 March – 33 people are killed and 14 injured following an explosion at Zasyadko coal mine in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine.
12 March
* Iceland formally withdraws its candidacy to the European Union, filed in 2009 and frozen since 2013. The move is met with protests from civil society.
* 30 people are feared dead and 40 more injured after a shopping center in Kazan collapses in a fire.
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.

April

1 April – The Russian-flagged fishing trawler Dalniy Vostok sinks off the Kamchatka Peninsula, with 57 confirmed dead and 12 missing.
12–14 April – A series of wildfires in Southern Siberia kill 29 people and leave thousands homeless.
14 April – Up to 400 illegal migrants from Libya drown after their boat capsizes in the Mediterranean Sea.
19 April – As many as 700 people are feared dead after a boat carrying migrants capsizes in the Mediterranean Sea.
24 April – 14 migrants believed to be from Afghanistan and Somalia are hit by a train and killed while walking along railway tracks in Macedonia.

May

1 May – Expo 2015 opens in Milan, with 145 countries participating. Widespread rioting occurs in Milan as students protesting overspending clash with police.
5 May – 38 police officers and one protester are injured in Skopje in opposition-organized protests against conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's government.
7 May – The UK's Conservative Party, led by David Cameron, wins a majority of seats in the House of Commons.
10 May – Eight police officers and 14 alleged members of an armed group are killed in fighting in Kumanovo, Macedonia.
22 May – Ireland becomes the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by constitutional referendum.
23 May – Sweden's Måns Zelmerlöw wins the 60th annual Eurovision Song Contest with electro-pop ballad "Heroes".
24 May – Opposition candidate Andrzej Duda is elected President of Poland.
27 May – Two separate criminal probes result in the arrest of seven FIFA officials and the raid of its headquarters by Swiss police.

June

5 June – Two people are killed and over 100 wounded in explosions at a rally by the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party in Diyarbakır.
7–8 June – The 41st G7 summit is held in Schloss Elmau, Bavaria.
14 June – Flooding in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, kills at least 19 people and releases zoo animals into the streets.
June - the Hungarian cabinet approves construction of a high barrier to stop migrants.
18 June – The centre-right opposition bloc led by Venstre wins the Danish general election, even though the Social Democratic party remains Denmark's largest.
20 June – Three people are killed and 43 injured as a man drives his SUV into a crowd in Graz, Austria.
24 June – 25 people are injured and at least 240 arrested in clashes between protesters and law enforcers over proposed electricity price increase in Armenian capital, Yerevan.
26 June – A man is decapitated and 12 others injured as a follower of the Islamic State group attacks an Air Products factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier.

July

1 July – Greece becomes the first advanced economy to miss a payment to the International Monetary Fund.
13 July – At least three people die and 13 others are injured in skirmish in the western Ukrainian town of Mukachevo.
20 July – A suicide attack targeting activists in the Turkish town of Suruç kills at least 30 people and injures 100 more.
22 July – A high-speed train collides with a truck in the eastern Czech Republic, leaving three passengers dead and 17 injured.
24 July – An explosion at a fireworks factory in Modugno, Italy, kills at least seven people.

August

5 August – Some 400 migrants are rescued and 25 bodies recovered after a fishing boat carrying an estimated 600 capsizes in the Mediterranean Sea.
19 August – EU finance ministers formally approve the first tranche of a new €86 billion bailout for Greece after parliaments in member states back the move.
20 August
* Two planes carrying dozens of parachutists collide mid-air over western Slovakia, killing seven people. 31 others on board survive by jumping out with their parachutes.
* Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras submits his resignation and calls for early elections.
* Macedonia declares a state of emergency on its southern and northern borders over a surge in migrants and refugees.
22 August – Eleven people are killed when a Hawker Hunter crashes onto a busy road during an airshow in Shoreham-by-Sea, United Kingdom.
27 August – Up to 71 refugees are found dead in the back of a freezer truck in eastern Austria.

September

September – Hungary builds the Hungarian border barrier fence on its border with Serbia and Croatia.
9 September – Queen Elizabeth II becomes the longest-reigning British head of state, surpassing the reign of her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria.
13 September – At least 34 migrants drown in the Aegean Sea off the coasts of Farmakonissi trying to reach Europe.
15 September – The Hungarian government declares a state of emergency to cope with the influx of refugees, as almost 10,000 people are detained for illegally crossing the border from Serbia.
23 September – Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn resigns after company officials admit widespread rigging of diesel emissions test results.

October

4 October
* Violent storms and flooding hit south-eastern France, killing at least 20 people with two more missing.
* Portugal's governing centre-right coalition wins the country's general election, which has been widely seen as a referendum on four years of austerity.
10 October
* At least 97 people are killed and more than 400 others injured in twin bombings at a peace rally in Ankara, Turkey.
* 250,000 people protest in Berlin against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership accord between the European Union and the United States.
11 October – Alexander Lukashenko is re-elected President of Belarus for a fifth term.
22 October – A masked man armed with a sword kills a teacher and a student in an attack at a school in Trollhättan, Sweden, before police fatally shoot him.
23 October – At least 43 people are killed in a head-on collision between a bus and a truck near the French town of Puisseguin.
30 October – A fire at a nightclub in downtown Bucharest kills 59 people and injures 152 more.

November

4 November – Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his government resign after mass protests over Colectiv nightclub fire.
13 November – Following a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation, the IAAF suspends Russia from all international competition in the sport of athletics.
13/14 November – At least 130 people are killed in a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris.
21 November – Nearly 2 million people on the Crimean Peninsula are without electricity after two transmission towers in Ukraine were damaged by explosions.
24 November – Tensions rise between Russia and Turkey, after a Russian Su-24 warplane is shot down by a Turkish Air Force F-16 near the border between Turkey and Syria.

December

30 December-Poland's new conservative government by the Law and Justice Party proposed a media bill that would allow it to control public service broadcasters TVP and Polish Radio via a national media council close to the government. This was condemned by the European Federation of Journalists, European Broadcasting Union and Reporters Without Borders.

Births

2 May – Princess Charlotte

Deaths

January

1 January
* Ulrich Beck, German sociologist
* Boris Morukov, Russian astronaut
4 January – Pino Daniele, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist
5 January – Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French racing driver
6 January – Vlastimil Bubník, Czech ice hockey player and footballer
7 January
* Tadeusz Konwicki, Polish writer and film director
* Cabu, French comic strip artist and caricaturist
* Charb, French satirical caricaturist and journalist
* Tignous, French cartoonist
* Georges Wolinski, French Jewish cartoonist and comics writer
9 January – Józef Oleksy, 7th Prime Minister of Poland
10 January – Francesco Rosi, Italian film director
11 January
* Anita Ekberg, Swedish actress and model
* Jenő Buzánszky, Hungarian football player and coach
12 January – Elena Obraztsova, Russian opera singer
20 January – Edgar Froese, German musician
21 January – Leon Brittan, British politician and barrister
24 January – Otto Carius, German WWII tank commander
25 January – Demis Roussos, Greek singer
28 January – Yves Chauvin, French Nobel chemist
30 January
* Geraldine McEwan, English actress
* Zhelyu Zhelev, 2nd President of Bulgaria
31 January – Richard von Weizsäcker, President of Germany

February

1 February
* Aldo Ciccolini, Italian-French pianist
* Udo Lattek, German football player, coach and TV pundit
3 February – Martin Gilbert, English historian
5 February – Henri Coppens, Belgian footballer
10 February – Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal
14 February
* Michele Ferrero, Italian entrepreneur
* Louis Jourdan, French film and television actor
* Franjo Mihalić, Croatian-Serbian runner and coach
* Wim Ruska, Dutch wrestler and martial artist
18 February – Claude Criquielion, Belgian road bicycle racer
21 February – Aleksei Gubarev, Russian cosmonaut
27 February – Boris Nemtsov, Russian politician

March

1 March – Wolfram Wuttke, German footballer
2 March – Dave Mackay, Scottish football player and manager
9 March
* Camille Muffat, French swimmer
* Alexis Vastine, French boxer
* Frei Otto, German architect
11 March – Walter Burkert, German academician and author
12 March – Terry Pratchett, English author
15 March – Valentin Rasputin, Russian writer
16 March – Andy Fraser, English songwriter and bass guitarist
19 March – Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs, Dutch athlete
21 March
* Hans Erni, Swiss graphic designer, painter, illustrator, engraver and sculptor
* Jørgen Ingmann, Danish jazz and pop guitarist
26 March – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish Nobel poet, psychologist and translator
29 March – Miroslav Ondříček, Czech cinematographer
30 March – Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, Dutch astronomer

April

1 April – Cynthia Lennon, former wife of John Lennon
2 April – Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese film director and screenwriter
4 April – Klaus Rifbjerg, Danish writer
13 April – Günter Grass, German Nobel writer
14 April – Roberto Tucci, Roman Catholic cardinal and theologian
16 April – Stanislav Gross, 5th Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
24 April – Władysław Bartoszewski, Polish politician and resistance fighter
29 April – Giovanni Canestri, Italian Catholic cardinal
30 April – Patachou, French singer and actress

May

1 May – Geoff Duke, British motorcycle racer
2 May
* Ruth Rendell, English author
* Maya Plisetskaya, Russian ballerina, choreographer and actress
9 May – Kenan Evren, 7th President of Turkey
15 May – Renzo Zorzi, Italian racing driver
18 May
* Halldór Ásgrímsson, Prime Minister of Iceland
* Raymond Gosling, British scientist
21 May – Annarita Sidoti, Italian race walker
24 May – Tanith Lee, British writer
26 May – Vicente Aranda, Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer
27 May – Nils Christie, Norwegian sociologist and criminologist

June

1 June – Charles Kennedy, British politician
4 June – Hermann Zapf, German typeface designer and calligrapher
6 June – Pierre Brice, French actor
7 June – Christopher Lee, English actor, singer and author
9 June – James Last, German composer and big band leader
11 June – Ron Moody, British actor
15 June – Jeanna Friske, Russian actress, singer, model and socialite
17 June – Süleyman Demirel, 9th President of Turkey
23 June – Magali Noël, French actress and singer
25 June
* Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church
* Patrick Macnee, English actor
26 June – Yevgeny Primakov, Prime Minister of Russia
28 June – Chris Squire, English musician, singer and songwriter
29 June
* Josef Masopust, Czech football player and coach
* Charles Pasqua, French businessman and Gaullist politician

July

1 July
* Sergio Sollima, Italian film director and screenwriter
* Nicholas Winton, British-born Jewish humanitarian
10 July – Roger Rees, Welsh actor and director
13 July – Martin Litchfield West, British classical scholar
14 July – Ildikó Schwarczenberger, Hungarian fencer
17 July − Jules Bianchi, French motor racing driver
21 July
* Galina Prozumenshchikova, Soviet swimmer
* Theodore Bikel, Austrian-American Jewish actor, folk singer, musician, composer and activist
30 July – Alena Vrzáňová, Czech figure skater

August

1 August – Cilla Black, English singer, television presenter and actress
3 August – Robert Conquest, British-American historian and poet
11 August – Harald Nielsen, Danish footballer
12 August – Jaakko Hintikka, Finnish philosopher and logician
16 August – Mile Mrkšić, Serbian military officer
17 August
* Arsen Dedić, Croatian singer-songwriter
* László Paskai, Hungarian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
20 August – Egon Bahr, German politician
23 August – Guy Ligier, French rugby player and racing driver
24 August – Justin Wilson, British racing driver
30 August – Oliver Sacks, British neurologist and author

September

12 September
* Adrian Frutiger, Swiss typeface designer
* Ron Springett, British football goalkeeper
14 September – Corneliu Vadim Tudor, Romanian poet, politician and journalist
17 September – Dettmar Cramer, German football player and coach
19 September – Jackie Collins, English romance novelist
23 September – Dragan Holcer, Croatian football defender
27 September
* John Guillermin, British film director, writer and producer
* Pietro Ingrao, Italian politician, journalist and former partisan
28 September – Ignacio Zoco, Spanish footballer

October

2 October – Brian Friel, Irish playwright and short story writer
3 October – Denis Healey, British politician
5 October
* Chantal Akerman, Belgian film director, artist and professor of film
* Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria
* Henning Mankell, Swedish crime writer, children's author and dramatist
6 October – Árpád Göncz, former President of Hungary
7 October – Dominique Dropsy, French footballer
9 October – Geoffrey Howe, British politician
17 October
* Danièle Delorme, French actress and film producer
* Howard Kendall, English footballer and manager
23 October – Paride Tumburus, Italian footballer
24 October
* Ján Chryzostom Korec, Slovak Jesuit priest and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
* Maureen O'Hara, Irish-American actress and singer
30 October – Sinan Şamil Sam, Turkish professional boxer
31 October – Ants Antson, Estonian speed skater

November

1 November – Günter Schabowski, German politician
4 November – René Girard, French historian, literary critic and philosopher
5 November
* Nora Brockstedt, Norwegian singer
* Czesław Kiszczak, Polish soldier and politician
7 November – Gunnar Hansen, Icelandic-born American actor and author
8 November – Andrei Eshpai, Mari composer
9 November
* Ernst Fuchs, Austrian artist
* Andy White, Scottish drummer
10 November
* André Glucksmann, French philosopher, activist and writer
* Klaus Roth, German-born British mathematician
* Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of West Germany
11 November – Phil Taylor, English rock drummer
12 November – Márton Fülöp, Hungarian professional footballer
21 November – Linda Haglund, Swedish Olympic sprinter
28 November
* Gerry Byrne, English footballer
* Barbro Hiort af Ornäs, Swedish actress