Following her meeting with Mr Schulz, the First Minister said: “This is very much an initial meeting, a series of meetings in Brussels today, so that people understand that Scotland, unlike other parts, of the United Kingdom does not want to leave the European Union”.
Advertisement
The crowds gathered outside Holyrood on Wednesday afternoon, waving banners with slogans such as “We believe in EU”, “EU’re the one that I want” and “Boris is a bampot”.
The snub by Mr Tusk is a setback for Scotland’s First Minister because the European Council is made up of the heads of the member states which will have to unanimously agree a deal for Scotland.
She said his position wasn’t “particularly surprising” and that European leaders were still in an early stage of the process.
Neither are there any plans for her to meet Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, during her Brussels trip.
The paper says the SNP would put a slightly different question to voters than in 2014, asking them whether they want to remain an European Union member or leave with the rest of the UK.
She also reportedly said that she has already had discussions with the president and prime minister of Ireland regarding the fallout from the Brexit vote.
Earlier, she set out for the Scottish parliament the action the Scottish government had taken since Thursday’s European Union referendum in which Britain voted to leave the European Union but Scotland chose to remain in.
Nicola Sturgeon has appointed an expert group to advise the Scottish Government on securing Scotland’s relationship with the EU.
The necessary legislation for a second independence referendum is being prepared to ensure that it is a deliverable option.
A list of the members invited to take part is available here. I have been here to make sure that Scotland’s voice is being heard and that Scotland’s position is understood. However, European Council President Donald Tusk will not be meeting her, his spokesman reportedly said.
He added: “The Spanish government… is against negotiating with anyone other than the government of the United Kingdom, and the rest are internal problems between the UK and the others (the countries that are part of the UK)”. “So I will listen carefully to what the first minister will tell me but we don’t have the intention, neither Donald [Tusk] nor myself to interfere in the British process”.
Advertisement
Of all the European Union member states, Spain is most resistant to Scotland entering into dialogue with the EU.
