After a difficult 2014, the countries of the European Union shouldn't expect relief in the new year. Another challenging 12 months lie ahead as they face external threats, internal dissent and an economy that's going nowhere.

Here's a glance at what to look out for in 2015:

Putin:

The Russian leader has his back against the wall as tumbling oil prices and international sanctions send Russia's economy into a tailspin.

At their year-end summit, EU leaders decided to keep up the pressure, adding new trade and investment restrictions on Russian-occupied Crimea and insisting they won't relax wider sanctions.

Putin can hardly afford to retaliate by cutting off oil and gas supplies through the winter as once feared, but Western security officials are concerned the wounded Russian bear could lash out militarily.

With his backing eroded by the economic woes, Putin could try to whip up nationalist support through more armed adventures either by pushing forward Russian advances in Ukraine or looking elsewhere. Moldova and Georgia are vulnerable. Putin could also gamble on a direct confrontation with NATO by unleashing Crimea-style "hybrid warfare" to undermine the Baltic States.