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Between The Troika And France's Unemployment, Europe Didn't Have The Best 2014

2014 Was A Tough Year For Europe
Kira Brekke
By 

Editor, HuffPost Video

There seems to be a general consensus among HuffPost editors around the world that Europe saw a tough year in 2014.

Take, for example, when the troika -- the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission -- went back on years of balancing the budget in Greece.

"The troika demanded Greece ... more and more austerity measures, meaning more budgetary cuts, balancing the budget even more, paying more and more of its ridiculous debt," Tom Dan, HuffPost's Senior International Editor, told HuffPost Live's Josh Zepps on Friday. "Bloomberg that day ... came out with a big editorial talking about how ridiculous those new claims were."

France won't be coming out of 2014 unscathed either, according to editor at large for HuffPost France Anne Sinclair. She described the country's swelling unemployment rate and the growing mistrust of parties that have governed France for years thus paving the way for more extremism.

"The real risk is that now we can say, that maybe not next term, which is 2017, but maybe the next one, which will be 2022, we can have an extreme right wing, president in France," Sinclair said. "That ... will be a real storm, a real danger, a real well something very ... annoying."

Huffington Post Media Group Editorial Director Howard Fineman weighed in on Europe's heightened sense of anxiety about its place in the world.

"You do have a time in Europe where there’s a real fear of the outsider, a real fear of losing their historic national identity and sort of the spirit of pan-Europe and world embrace is not there in Europe right now," he concluded.

Watch the clip above to hear about some of Europe's biggest stories from 2014 and click here to watch the full HuffPost around the world segment.

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Before You Go

January - Massive Protests Rock Kiev
Jeff J. Mitchell / Getty Images
Massive protests that started in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev at the end of 2013 continue in the new year. The protesters hit the streets after a decision by the country's president to cancel a historic agreement with the European Union in favor of Russia.
Oleksandr Ratushniak / AFP / Getty Images
Protests spread to the rest of the country. Violent clashes break out between protesters and security forces.
Bulent Kilic / AFP / Getty Images
Ukrainian security forces violently clear out protest camps set up in the capital.
February - Yanukovich Flees Ukraine
Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP / Getty Images
But the protests continue. President Yanukovich flees the capital on Feb. 22.
Genya Savilov / AFP / Getty Images
The president's opulent former palace becomes a tourist destination.
March - MH370 Goes Missing
Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP / Getty Images
On March 8, a Malaysia Airlines plane on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing goes missing without leaving a trace.
No Hope
Goh Chai Hin / AFP / Getty Images
Malaysia's prime minister announces on March 24 there is no hope to find the passengers alive.
Wang Zhao / AFP / Getty Images
The search for the wreckage of the plane continues.
Guinea Reports First Ebola Case
Seyllou / AFP / Getty Images
Guinea informs the World Health Organization of a rapidly spreading outbreak of Ebola.
Ebola Spreads
John Moore / Getty Images
The disease spreads to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone. Cases are also diagnosed in the United States, Spain, Mali, Senegal and Nigeria.
Russia Annexes Crimea
Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
Russia annexes Crimea after pro-Russian separatists take up arms against the government in Kiev.
April - #BringBackOurGirls
Philip Ojisua / AFP / Getty Images
On the night of April 14, Boko Haram militants kidnap more than 200 schoolgirls from a boarding school in Nigeria's northern Chibok region.
Ferry Sinks In South Korea
AFP / Getty Images
On April 16, the Sewol ferry sinks on its way to South Korea's Jeju island. The ship was carrying hundreds of passengers, mostly schoolchildren.
Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images
More than 300 people do not survive the disaster.
Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images
In November, the ferry's captain is convicted of gross negligence and sentenced to 36 years in prison.
Sherpas Killed On Mount Everest
Robert Kay / AFP / Getty Images
On the morning of April 18, 16 sherpas are killed in an avalanche on Mount Everest in Nepal.
Prakash Mathema / AFP / Getty Images
The climbing season is called off for the rest of the year.
May - Narendra Modi Wins India’s Election
Kevin Frayer / Getty Images
BJP leader Narendra Modi wins India's election.
Martial Law Declared In Thailand
Rufus Cox / Getty Images
Thailand's army imposes martial law after months of tensions between protesters and the government.
Sisi Wins In Egypt Elections
Virginie Nguyen Hong / AFP / Getty Images
Egyptian military leader Abdul Fattah El-Sisi wins Egypt's presidential election.
June - ISIS Captures Mosul
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Militants of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, capture Iraq's second largest city, Mosul.
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Many of the city's residents flee to the neighboring Kurdish region.
Brazil Hosts World Cup Amid Protests
Tiago Mazza Chiaravalloti / Pacific Press / Lightrocket / Getty Images
Brazil hosts the FIFA World Cup.
Victor Moriyama / Getty Images
The games are preceded by massive protests. The protesters lament the high costs of the tournament and demand better services and an end to corruption.
July - Gaza War
Said Khatib / AFP / Getty Images
Violence breaks out between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
Mahmud Hams / AFP / Getty Images
The fighting lasts nearly two months.
Ali Hasan / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
MH17 Shot Down
Pierre Crom / Getty Images
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 goes down over Eastern Ukraine on July 17. The plane was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Rob Stothard / Getty Images
All passengers and crew aboard are killed.
August - ISIS Beheads First Western Hostage
Jessica Rinaldi / The Boston Globe / Getty Images
On August 20, militants of the Islamic State group distribute a video that shows the beheading of American journalist James Foley. The group also killed American hostages Steven Sotloff and Abdul-Rahman Kassig, as well as British hostages Alan Henning and David Haines.
September - Hong Kong Protests
Xaume Olleros / AFP / Getty Images
Hundreds of thousands of protesters take to the streets in Hong Kong.
Anthony Kwan / Getty Images
The protesters demand the right to elect the city's leader without interference from Beijing.
Siege Of Kobani
Bulent Kilic / AFP / Getty Images
The Islamic State besieges the Kurdish city of Kobani, on the Turkish-Syrian border.
Gokhan Shain / AFP / Getty Images
Scottish Independence Referendum
Leon Neal / AFP / Getty Images
On Sept. 18, Scotland heads to the polls in a referendum on independence.
Andy Buchanan / AFP / Getty Images
A majority of voters decides against autonomy.
43 Students Go Missing In Mexico
Brett Grundlock / Getty Images
More than 40 students disappear in Mexico's Guerrero state. Investigators allege local police handed them over to members of a drug cartel, who killed them and burned their remains.
Alfredo Estrella / AFP / Getty Images
Thousands of Mexicans take to the streets in the wake of the tragedy, demanding police reforms and new measures against corruption.
October - Ottawa Shooting
Andrew Burton / Getty Images
In an assault that sends shockwaves through Canada, a lone gunman attacks the country's parliament on Oct. 22, killing soldier Nathan Cirillo.
Jason Ransom / PMO / Getty Images
The gunman was halted by Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers.
Mass Protests In Burkina Faso
Issouf Sanogo / AFP / Getty Images
Burkina Faso's longtime president, Blaise Compaoré, resigns after days of mass protests.
November - Nuclear Talks Extended
Nicholas Kamm / AFP / Getty Images
Negotiators fail to reach a deal on Iran's nuclear program. However, the talks are extended until July 2015.
December - Sydney Hostage Crisis
Newspix / Getty Images
A lone gunman takes several people hostage at a Sydney coffee shop on Dec. 15.
Cole Bennetts / Getty Images
Two hostages and the attacker are killed in the crisis.
Pakistan School Massacre
Mohammad Sajjad / AP
Taliban fighters attack a military-run school in Peshawar, killing more than a hundred students and teachers.
Alan Gross Released
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cuba releases Alan Gross, an American aid worker who had been jailed on the island for five years. The U.S. and Cuba agree on a prisoner swap that includes three of the 'Cuban Five' prisoners and a Cuban who worked for American intelligence and had been jailed in Cuba for twenty years. American and Cuban leaders announce they will start talks to restore relations.
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