First minister, in Brussels to lobby for remaining in EU, finds officials reluctant to enter talks on separate future for Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon’s hopes of gaining support for her bid to keep Scotland in the European Union despite the UK’s vote to leave have been dealt a blow after the Spanish prime minister warned: “If the United Kingdom leaves … Scotland leaves.”

Speaking in Brussels, where the Scottish first minister held a series of meetings to lobby for Scotland, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European commission, said that although he would gladly hear Sturgeon’s case, he was not in a position to enter into talks on Scotland’s future separately from the UK.

“Scotland won the right to be heard in Brussels,” said Juncker on Wednesday. “So I will listen carefully to what the first minister will tell me but we don’t have the intention, neither Donald [Tusk, president of the European council,] nor myself, to interfere in the British process. That is not our job.”

The Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, was even stronger in his dismissal of Scottish hopes of avoiding being forced out in a Brexit.

“I want to be very clear: Scotland does not have the competence to negotiate with the European Union. Spain opposes any negotiation by anyone other than the government of the United Kingdom,” he told a news conference following a summit of European leaders in Brussels.

“I am extremely against it, the treaties are extremely against it and I believe everyone is extremely against it. If the United Kingdom leaves … Scotland leaves,” he added. Madrid has a troubled relationship with the separatist inclinations of Catalonia.

Sturgeon said she was not surprised at the Spanish position, adding: “I have a duty as first minister to find a way to give effect to the democratic will of Scotland.”

Earlier, after a meeting with the European parliament president, Martin Schulz, Sturgeon said: “Scotland is determined to stay in the EU. I don’t underestimate the challenges that lie ahead for us in seeking to find a path.”

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Schulz said he had “listened and learned”.

David McAllister, a Scottish-German MEP and key ally of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said he thought it was right that Sturgeon had come to Brussels.

“I think it is fair that the Scottish voice should be heard in Brussels,” he told the Guardian, noting that the first minister had been “the most visible British politician on German TV” over the weekend.

“In Germany, there is now a new interest in the Scottish debate and in trying to understand the argument from both sides,” said McAllister, who was once considered one of Merkel’s potential successors and is now one of the key intermediaries between the British and German governments.



But, despite the sympathy felt by many in Europe for Scotland’s predicament, Sturgeon’s hopes of ensuring the country remains in the bloc look likely to be crushed.

As made clear by Rajoy, Spain, as well as Belgium and other countries that are worried about separatism, would oppose any plan to continue Scotland’s membership, or allow it special status. Other countries are sympathetic to Scotland’s plight, but don’t see any way to bend the rules.

An EU diplomat said it was “out of the question” for Scotland to stay in the EU following Brexit, saying: “We are a union of member states.”



In Edinburgh, senior pro-EU Scottish Conservatives accused Sturgeon of making a tactical error by embarking on what one described as “freelance diplomacy” in Brussels without working first with the UK government.

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, broadly supports Sturgeon’s proposals to win special arrangements for Scotland with the EU but believes they have greater chance of being listened to as part of the official UK Brexit talks, once they start.

Prof Adam Tomkin, the Tory constitution spokesman at Holyrood, said: “Simply ploughing her own furrow will not work, and will make for an overall weaker case. Sturgeon has already had several rejections on this solo mission, which is why she should be teaming up with the rest of the UK to get the best deal for Scotland.”

Brussels insiders are also loth to intervene in what they see as a British political problem that the prime minister, David Cameron, did not consider when he called a referendum.

Several EU diplomats have said the only way for Scotland to be part of the EU would be to become an independent country and reapply for membership, a process estimated to take five to seven years.

All EU countries have the right to veto new members.

Almost two-thirds of Scots voted to remain in last week’s EU referendum, but the country looks set to be forced out because a majority of English voted to leave.

The commission will have a bigger role than the parliament in Brexit talks, but is unlikely to be any more helpful in meeting Sturgeon’s hopes. A source close to the president said he would “be in listening mode”.

Tusk declined to meet Sturgeon. A source close to him said: “It’s not the right time.” Tusk, who represents national leaders, is concerned that meeting Sturgeon would lead to an avalanche of requests from other territories and regions. The European council president was also chairing an unprecedented EU summit in Brussels, bringing together 27 EU leaders, for the first time without the UK.

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Scotland is not their top priority; the leaders are determined to show the union can survive following the shock of the Brexit vote. “Europeans expect us to do better when it comes to providing security, prosperity and hope for a better future,” states the summit communique.

Arriving at the meeting, Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, reflected the tone of the day, saying: “We have more need than ever for a united union rather than a disunited kingdom.”

But Ireland’s taoiseach, Enda Kenny, tried to help: he delivered Sturgeon’s message, that Scotland hoped to remain an EU member, to leaders on Tuesday, the first day of the summit.

EU leaders reacted frostily to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, but an application to rejoin after Brexit has received more sympathy.

The SNP politician Alyn Smith has appealed to European colleagues to help Scotland, calling for cool heads and warm hearts. In a fervent address to the European parliament on Tuesday, he said: “Please remember this. Scotland did not let you down. Please I beg you … do not let Scotland down now.”