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As of January 1, 2015:
Afghanistan/NATO: A new NATO mission, Resolute Support, starts in Afghanistan.
EU: European Year for Development.
Germany/G8: Germany assumes the presidency of the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations in 2015.
Kazakhstan/CIS: Kazakhstan takes over the rotating chairmanship of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) for 2015.
Latvia/EU: Latvia takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union (until June 30).
Lithuania: Lithuania joins the eurozone.
Moldova/BSEC: Moldova takes over the presidency of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization (BSEC) in 2015.
Russia/SCO: Russia continues its 2014-2015 presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Russia/BRICS: Russia takes over the rotating chairmanship of BRICS.
Russia/Belarus/Kazakhstan: The Eurasian Economic Union goes into effect.
Russia: A bill requiring Russian residents to submit reports to tax authorities on movement of cash on their foreign bank accounts goes in effect.
Russia: A bill obliging foreign companies to keep Russian citizens' personal data only on servers in Russia goes into effect.
Russia/CIS: Citizens of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), excluding member states of the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union (EES), will no longer be able to use only their national identification documents, known as "internal passports," to enter the Russian Federation.
Serbia/OSCE: Serbia assumes the OSCE chairmanship in 2015.
Turkey/G20: Turkey holds the presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20) major economies in 2015.
Tajikistan/CSTO: Tajikistan assumes the presidency of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in 2015.
Ukraine/GUAM: Ukraine assumes the GUAM presidency in 2015.