2008 in Europe

Events from the year 2008 in Europe.

Incumbents

Albania

• Albania – President – Bamir Topi (2007–2012)
• Albania – Prime Minister – Sali Berisha (2005–2013)

Andorra

• Andorra – Co-Prince (French) – Nicolas Sarkozy (2007–2012)
• Andorra – Co-Prince (Episcopal) – Joan Enric Vives Sicília (2003–2025)
• Andorra – Head of Government – Albert Pintat (2005–2009)

Austria

• Austria – President – Heinz Fischer (2004–2016)
• Austria – Chancellor –
  • Alfred Gusenbauer (2007–2 December 2008)
  • Werner Faymann (2 December 2008–2016)

Belarus

• Belarus – President – Alexander Lukashenko (1994– )
• Belarus – Prime Minister – Sergey Sidorsky (2003–2010)

Belgium

• Belgium – Monarch – Albert II (1993–2013)
• Belgium – Prime Minister –
  • Guy Verhofstadt (2007–20 March 2008)
  • Yves Leterme (20 March 2008–22 December 2008; resigned)
  • Herman Van Rompuy (30 December 2008–2009)

Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Bosnia and Herzegovina – Chairman of the Presidency –
  • Željko Komšić (2007–6 March 2008)
  • Haris Silajdžić (6 March 2008–6 November 2008)
  • Nebojša Radmanović (6 November 2008–2009)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – Chairman of the Council of Ministers – Nikola Špirić (2007–2012)

Bulgaria

• Bulgaria – President – Georgi Parvanov (2002–2012)
• Bulgaria – Prime Minister – Sergei Stanishev (2005–2009)

Croatia

• Croatia – President – Stjepan Mesić (2000–2010)
• Croatia – Prime Minister – Ivo Sanader (2003–2009)

Cyprus (Republic of Cyprus)

• Cyprus – President –
  • Tassos Papadopoulos (2003–28 February 2008)
  • Demetris Christofias (28 February 2008–2013)

Czech Republic

• Czech Republic – President – Václav Klaus (2003–2013)
• Czech Republic – Prime Minister – Mirek Topolánek (2006–2009)

Denmark

• Denmark – Monarch – Margrethe II (1972–2024)
• Denmark – Prime Minister – Anders Fogh Rasmussen (2001–2009)

Estonia

• Estonia – President – Toomas Hendrik Ilves (2006–2016)
• Estonia – Prime Minister – Andrus Ansip (2005–2014)

European Union|European Union

• President of the European Commission – José Manuel Barroso (2004–2014)
• President of the European Parliament – Hans-Gert Pöttering (2007–2009)
• Presidency of the Council (First Half) – Janez Janša (for **Slovenia**) (1 January 2008–30 June 2008)
• Presidency of the Council (Second Half) – Nicolas Sarkozy (for **France**) (1 July 2008–31 December 2008)

Finland

• Finland – President – Tarja Halonen (2000–2012)
• Finland – Prime Minister – Matti Vanhanen (2003–2010)

France

• France – President – Nicolas Sarkozy (2007–2012)
• France – Prime Minister – François Fillon (2007–2012)

Germany

• Germany – President – Horst Köhler (2004–2010)
• Germany – Chancellor – Angela Merkel (2005–2021)

Greece

• Greece – President – Karolos Papoulias (2005–2015)
• Greece – Prime Minister – Kostas Karamanlis (2004–2009)

Hungary

• Hungary – President – László Sólyom (2005–2010)
• Hungary – Prime Minister – Ferenc Gyurcsány (2004–2009)

Iceland

• Iceland – President – Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (1996–2016)
• Iceland – Prime Minister – Geir Haarde (2006–2009)

Ireland

• Ireland – President – Mary McAleese (1997–2011)
• Ireland – Taoiseach –
  • Bertie Ahern (1997–7 May 2008)
  • Brian Cowen (7 May 2008–2011)

Italy

• Italy – President – Giorgio Napolitano (2006–2015)
• Italy – Prime Minister –
  • Romano Prodi (2006–8 May 2008)
  • Silvio Berlusconi (8 May 2008–2011)

Kosovo

• Kosovo – President – Fatmir Sejdiu (2008–2010)
• Kosovo – Prime Minister – Hashim Thaçi (2008–2014)

Latvia

• Latvia – President – Valdis Zatlers (2007–2011)
• Latvia – Prime Minister – Ivars Godmanis (2007–2009)

Liechtenstein

• Liechtenstein – Monarch – Hans-Adam II (1989– )
• Liechtenstein – Head of Government – Otmar Hasler (2001–2009)

Lithuania

• Lithuania – President – Valdas Adamkus (2004–2009)
• Lithuania – Prime Minister –
  • Gediminas Kirkilas (2006–9 December 2008)
  • Andrius Kubilius (9 December 2008–2012)

Luxembourg

• Luxembourg – Monarch – Henri (2000–2025)
• Luxembourg – Prime Minister – Jean-Claude Juncker (1995–2013)

Macedonia

• Macedonia (FYROM) – President – Branko Crvenkovski (2004–2009)
• Macedonia (FYROM) – Prime Minister – Nikola Gruevski (2006–2016)

Malta

• Malta – President – Eddie Fenech Adami (2004–2009)
• Malta – Prime Minister – Lawrence Gonzi (2004–2013)

Moldova

• Moldova – President – Vladimir Voronin (2001–2009)
• Moldova – Prime Minister – Zinaida Greceanîi (2008–2009)

Monaco

• Monaco – Monarch – Albert II (2005– )
• Monaco – Minister of State – Michel Roger (2007–2010)

Montenegro

• Montenegro – President – Filip Vujanović (2003–2018)
• Montenegro – Prime Minister – Željko Šturanović (2006–2010)

Netherlands

• Netherlands – Monarch – Beatrix (1980–2013)
• Netherlands – Prime Minister – Jan Peter Balkenende (2002–2010)

Norway

• Norway – Monarch – Harald V (1991– )
• Norway – Prime Minister – Jens Stoltenberg (2005–2013)

Poland

• Poland – President – Lech Kaczyński (2005–2010)
• Poland – Prime Minister – Donald Tusk (2007–2014)

Portugal

• Portugal – President – Aníbal Cavaco Silva (2006–2016)
• Portugal – Prime Minister – José Sócrates (2005–2011)

Romania

• Romania – President – Traian Băsescu (2004–2014)
• Romania – Prime Minister – Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu (2004–2008)
  • Emil Boc (22 December 2008–2012)

Russia

• Russia – President –
  • Vladimir Putin (1999–7 May 2008)
  • Dmitry Medvedev (7 May 2008–2012)
• Russia – Prime Minister –
  • Viktor Zubkov (2007–8 May 2008)
  • Vladimir Putin (8 May 2008–2012)

San Marino

• San Marino – Captains Regent –
  • Federico Pedini Amati and Alessandro Rossi (1 October 2007–1 April 2008)
  • Ernesto Benedettini and Assunta Meloni (1 April 2008–1 October 2008)
  • Rosa Zafferani and Federico Bigi (1 October 2008–2009)

Serbia

• Serbia – President – Boris Tadić (2004–2012)
• Serbia – Prime Minister –
  • Vojislav Koštunica (2004–7 July 2008)
  • Mirko Cvetković (7 July 2008–2012)

Slovakia

• Slovakia – President – Ivan Gašparovič (2004–2014)
• Slovakia – Prime Minister – Robert Fico (2006–2010)

Slovenia

• Slovenia – President – Danilo Türk (2007–2012)
• Slovenia – Prime Minister –
  • Janez Janša (2004–21 November 2008)
  • Borut Pahor (21 November 2008–2012)

Spain

• Spain – Monarch – Juan Carlos I (1975–2014)
• Spain – Prime Minister – José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004–2011)

Sweden

• Sweden – Monarch – Carl XVI Gustaf (1973– )
• Sweden – Prime Minister – Fredrik Reinfeldt (2006–2014)

Switzerland

• Switzerland – President of the Swiss Confederation – Pascal Couchepin (2008)

Turkey (partially European)

• Turkey – President – Abdullah Gül (2007–2014)
• Turkey – Prime Minister – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (2003–2014)

Ukraine

• Ukraine – President – Viktor Yushchenko (2005–2010)
• Ukraine – Prime Minister – Yulia Tymoshenko (2007–2010)

United Kingdom

• United Kingdom – Monarch – Elizabeth II (1952–2022)
• United Kingdom – Prime Minister – Gordon Brown (2007–2010)

Vatican City (Holy See)

• Vatican City – Sovereign – Benedict XVI (2005–2013)
• Vatican City – President of the Pontifical Commission – Giovanni Lajolo (2006–2011)
• Vatican City – Secretary of State – Tarcisio Bertone (2006–2013)

Events

• January 1: Cyprus and Malta becomes a eurozone member, adopting the euro for the first time.
• May 21: The first all-English European Cup final saw Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties after a 1–1 draw in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.^[1]
• August 7–16: Russo-Georgian War
• August 28: The Russian group Voina staged the Fuck for the heir Puppy Bear! performance at the Timiryazev State Biological Museum in Moscow to protest at the election of Dmitry Medvedev in the 2008 Russian presidential election.^[2]
• December 6: A police officer assassinated 15-year-old student Alexis Grigoropoulos. Large riots took place the following days in Greece.^[3][4][5]

Deaths

January

• January 2
  • George MacDonald Fraser, British author
  • Günter Schubert, German actor
• January 3
  • Jimmy Stewart, British racing driver
  • Werner Dollinger, German politician
• January 7 – Detlef Kraus, German pianist
• January 9 – John Harvey-Jones, British businessman
• January 19 – Morris Maddocks, British bishop
• January 30 – Jeremy Beadle, British television presenter, writer and producer

February

• 28 February – Mike Smith, British singer

March

• 8 March – Carol Barnes, British newsreader
• 18 March – Anthony Minghella, British film director
• 19 March
  • Arthur C. Clarke, British science fiction author and inventor
  • Paul Scofield, British actor
• 20 March – Brian Wilde, British actor
• 23 March – Neil Aspinall, British record producer and business executive
• 28 March – Michael Podro, British art historian

April

• 1 April – Jim Finney, British football referee
• 7 April – Mark Speight, British television presenter
• 25 April – Humphrey Lyttelton, British jazz musician and broadcaster

May

• 16 May – David Mitton, British producer and director
• 24 May – Rob Knox, British actor
• 28 May – Beryl Cook, British artist

July

• 2 July – Elizabeth Spriggs, British actress
• 3 July – Clive Hornby, British actor
• 4 July – Charles Wheeler, British journalist
• 14 July – Hugh Lloyd, British actor

August

• 11 August – Bill Cotton, British producer
• 29 August – Geoffrey Perkins, British comedy producer, writer and performer
• 31 August – Ken Campbell, British actor and raconteur

September

• 15 September – Richard Wright, British musician
• 24 September - Ruslan Yamadayev, Russian politician

November

• 3 November – Brooks Mileson, British businessman,
• 4 November – Syd Lucas, British World War I veteran
• 12 November – Mitch Mitchell, British drummer
• 16 November – Reg Varney, British actor

December

• 8 December – Oliver Postgate, British animator, puppeteer and writer
• 14 December – Kathy Staff, British actress
• 24 December – Harold Pinter, British playwright

See also

• Europe portal
• 2000s portal

• 2008 in the European Union
• List of state leaders in 2008 § Europe