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Wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan, the fall of Syria’s Assad regime, and consequential elections made 2024 a year of upheaval across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). This is an editorial selection, not an official or universally agreed ranking: it weighs human impact, geopolitical consequences, regional reach and effects likely to last beyond the year. The Associated Press called 2024 “a year of monumental elections and political change”—an editorial description, not a measured ranking of events.
The selection draws on broad year-end coverage and institutional accounts, but the available sources do not provide a common EMEA-wide method or a balanced review of every country. Some EU policy milestones are included alongside conflicts and elections; the list should not be read as a quantitative ranking or a complete survey of the region.
1. Russia’s war against Ukraine continued to shape European security
Russia’s war against Ukraine remained one of Europe’s defining security and humanitarian stories in 2024. It continued to affect the region well beyond the battlefield, keeping European security, support for Ukraine and the war’s human consequences high on the political agenda. The Associated Press’ year-end review and UNHCR’s account of displacement both identify the war as part of the year’s wider story of conflict and human suffering.
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There was no basis at year’s end to treat the war’s outcome as settled. The significance of the story was its continuation and its lasting consequences, not a conclusion to the conflict.
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2. The Gaza war and regional conflict put civilians across the Middle East at risk
The war in Gaza continued, while conflict between Israel and Hezbollah widened the crisis into Lebanon. These are connected regional developments, but they are separate theaters and should not be collapsed into one casualty total. The sources available for this roundup do not establish a harmonized figure covering the different conflicts, so no combined count is given.
The year’s story was both the continuing war in Gaza and its regional spillover. AP’s conflict coverage and UNHCR’s humanitarian reporting place these events among the major conflict and displacement concerns of 2024.
3. Assad’s fall opened an uncertain chapter for Syria
The Assad regime fell in December, a major geopolitical rupture late in the year. It changed the political landscape in Syria, but it did not resolve what would follow. At the close of 2024, the transition and its consequences remained uncertain.
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4. Sudan’s war drove a severe humanitarian and displacement crisis
Continuing violence in Sudan forced people to flee and deepened a severe humanitarian crisis. UNHCR reported that nearly 123 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced by conflict and persecution by the end of June 2024. That is a global figure—not a count for Sudan, Africa or EMEA—and it includes people displaced for reasons beyond Sudan’s war.
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Sudan belongs in a regional roundup because of the scale of its humanitarian emergency, while the UNHCR figure shows the wider global displacement context. It should not be used to imply a Sudan-specific total.
5. European Parliament elections shaped debate about the EU’s direction
The European Parliament elections in June were a major democratic milestone, according to the European Commission’s 2024 year-end account. Their importance extended beyond the vote itself: the results renewed debate about the Union’s political direction and the choices facing its institutions.
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6. South Africa’s election ended the ANC’s parliamentary majority
South Africa’s 2024 election ended the African National Congress’s parliamentary majority. The ANC subsequently entered a coalition arrangement, marking a consequential shift in the country’s national politics, as AP reported.
This is a major African election story, not a proxy for elections across the continent. The available coverage supports the significance of the ANC’s loss of its majority and the coalition arrangement; it does not justify treating South Africa’s result as representative of all African countries.
7. The EU advanced Ukraine’s path toward membership and support
The EU opened accession negotiations with Ukraine and launched a support instrument worth up to €50 billion, according to the European Commission. The €50 billion figure is the instrument’s maximum value, not the amount delivered in 2024: the Commission says Ukraine received €16.1 billion from it during that year.
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The distinction between a programme ceiling and funds actually received is important. Together, accession negotiations and financial support made EU-Ukraine ties a consequential policy story alongside the war itself.
8. Extreme weather kept climate impacts in the news
Floods, earthquakes, fires and extreme weather featured among the major events cited in AP’s 2024 year-in-review, while the European Commission connected extreme weather with the EU’s climate goals. This roundup includes climate impacts because they formed part of the year’s wider crisis and policy landscape—not because the cited coverage establishes a single event that captures EMEA as a whole.
The sources used here do not provide event-level evidence for a specific EMEA disaster, so this section does not name one or attribute a particular event to climate change. A location-specific account would require evidence about that event and its context.
9. The EU marked the 2004 enlargement anniversary and expanded Schengen
2024 marked 20 years since the EU’s 2004 enlargement, which the European Commission describes as the largest enlargement in the Union’s history. The Commission also says Bulgaria and Romania joined Schengen in 2024, with border-free travel benefits for their citizens beginning in 2025.
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The timing matters: the Schengen change took place in 2024, but the stated start of the travel benefits was 2025. The enlargement anniversary and the Schengen development were distinct milestones in the EU’s changing relationship with its member states.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.10. EU defence policy moved toward greater readiness
In March 2024, the European Commission presented a defence industry strategy and an investment programme. The policy story was closely connected to the war in Ukraine and broader European security concerns: it focused on defence readiness and the industrial capacity behind it.
The Commission’s year-end account establishes that the strategy and programme were presented; this roundup does not treat their presentation as proof that defence capacity had already changed by the end of the year.
Why this is an editorial top ten, not a definitive ranking
These stories are selected for a blend of human impact, geopolitical consequence, regional reach, likely durability and the strength of available evidence. They are not equally weighted, and the list is not a comprehensive country-by-country inventory. The coverage available for this roundup is stronger on some EU milestones and major conflicts than on comparable event-specific reporting across every part of Africa and the Middle East.
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Audience attention is a different measure from importance. In a 2024 survey, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that the share of respondents who said they felt worn out by the news agenda had risen from 26% in 2019 to 44% in 2024. That change provides audience context; it does not show which stories mattered most.
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