Former European council president, Donald Tusk, said on Sunday in an interview on the BBC that Brussels feels "empathy" towards an independent Scotland rejoining the EU.

Although Tusk made it clear that it is currently not his job to assess the relations between the EU and the UK - or their legal circumstances - he believes a fair interpretation would be that if Scotland became independent, a new regulatory process would be initiated for its entry into the EU. A new stage which everyone at the European Parliament would be "emotionally enthusiastic" about, he said.

Tusk told BBC journalist Andrew Marr that, after Brexit, "he feels very Scottish".

However, Tusk warned that all twenty-seven EU member states might not automatically accept the possible entry of an independent Scotland into the EU and that Scotland would not receive special treatment from the union, but would have to follow the official procedures.

On the other hand, the new European council president, Charles Michel, said last year that it seemed to him Brexit had changed the attitude of the EU towards the possibility of Scotland becoming independent.

Other EU leaders have expressed sadness about the "divorce", as is the case of French president Emmanuel Macron, for whom the Union is a project that London will want to join again. In an open letter addressed to the British people, Macron said that he thinks of the millions of citizens of this country that "still feel deeply attached to the EU." "You are leaving the Union, but you are not leaving Europe, France or the friendship of its people", said the French president, who recalled in his speech that if the English Channel "has never managed to separate our destinies, neither will Brexit".

A legal, binding referendum

Last January 31st, when Brexit was made effective, Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon said that "it is possible" to hold an independence referendum in 2020. Sturgeon asserts that this referendum must be "legal and binding" and must receive recognition of the international community.

The Scottish leader also said that an independent Scotland would seek full EU membership.