2014 a year of unrest

An open conflict over Ukraine, the destabilisation of the Middle East by the IS terror militia and a shift to the right in many countries of Europe: commentators look back on 2014 with concern. For 2015 they pin their hopes on economic recovery in the EU and the positive example set by Europe's small neighbour Tunisia.

With extracts from the following news sources reviewing 2014:

Observador - Portugal
Putin with his back to the wall

Revista 22 - Romania
Russia seeks ideological confrontation

NRC Handelsblad - Netherlands
MH17 leaves deep wounds in the Netherlands

Der Standard - Austria
Annus horribilis in the Middle East

Corriere della Sera - Italy
Alarming parallels with 1914 in Middle East

Libération - France
France longs for a strong leader

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany
Transformation goes on in Eastern Europe

Kathimerini - Greece
Dwindling solidarity in Europe

Novi List - Croatia
Only pensioner statistics growing in Croatia

Cumhuriyet - Turkey
Turkey moving further away from EU

Expressen - Sweden
Fight over press freedom fought out on the web

Le Soir - Belgium
Get your act together, Europe

Neue Zürcher Zeitung - Switzerland
Brexit as the beginning of the end of the EU

La Vanguardia - Spain
2014 marks end of transition in Spain

The Economist - United Kingdom
Tunisia is country of the year

• Primary Source