In the evening on 19 December a truck drove into one of the Berlin Christmas markets.

On 15–16 December, the Russian President Vladimir Putin paid an official visit to Japan, which had originally been scheduled for 2014.

On 18 December, the government in Ukraine decided to nationalise the country’s largest bank, PrivatBank. It has been owned by the oligarchs Ihor Kolomoyskyi and Henadiy Boholyubov.

A snap parliamentary election was held in Macedonia on 11 December. The strongest support was won by the coalition focused on the centre-right party VMRO-DPMNE.

During President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Igor Sechin a public announcement was made about the privatisation of a 19.5% stake in Rosneft. 

The Social Democrats’ excellent result is primarily a result of their efficient election campaign together with the lack of a consistent message from the centre-right. 

The German chancellor was elected the leader of the CDU, by a clear majority of voters, for the ninth time (in 16 years).

The European Commission published its winter package – a series of legislative proposals  regarding the EU energy and climate policies for 2020-2030. 

On 30 November in Vienna, the OPEC countries concluded an agreement on reducing oil production by about 1.2 million b/d (barrels per day).

On 30 November, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation (the fifth in the history of post-Soviet Russia).