What was the beginning year of the European debt crisis that particularly affected Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain?
European debt crisis The European debt crisis (often also referred to as the Eurozone crisis or the European sovereign debt crisis) is a multi-year debt crisis that has been taking place in the European Union since the end of 2009. Several eurozone member states (Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Cyprus) were unable to repay or refinance their government debt or to bail out over-indebted banks under their national supervision without the assistance of third parties like other Eurozone countries, the European Central Bank (ECB), or the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Cape Verde–European Union relations Cape Verde is an island nation, part of the Macaronesian group of islands of the Atlantic Ocean and was a former Portuguese colony during the colonial era between 1460 and 1975. In March 2005 former Portuguese president Mário Soares launched a petition urging the European Union to start membership talks with it, saying that Cape Verde could act as a bridge between Africa, Latin America and the EU.