Major European stock indexes traded in the green in the premarket hours on Thursday as investors awaited the European Central Bank's new monetary policy decision, which is expected to cut rates by another 25 basis points. In business, Lufthansa released its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings reports.

Further, European leaders are meeting in Brussels for a special summit on defense as the region seeks to uphold its backing for Ukraine.

The DAX jumped by 0.55%, and the FTSE 100 added 0.40% at 8:00 am CET. At the same time, the CAC 40 improved by 0.52% and the Euro Stoxx 50 advanced by 1.18%.

Both the euro and the pound traded flat compared to the dollar at 7:59 am CET, selling for $1.08027 and $1.28990, respectively.