It is 100 days until Britain leaves the European Union and Brexit looms on the horizon as a daunting prospect for many – particularly the 200,000 or so European citizens currently living and working in Scotland.

Many have built their entire lives herein Scotland, with friends, family, and a career. Today, as the countdown to Brexit nudges ever closer, academics, business owners, admin staff, solicitors and librarians across the country have a common feeling – worry.

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The last few weeks have seen Theresa May survive a vote of no confidence from her own party and delay a vote which she was expected to lose in order to renegotiate a deal which the EU refuses to look at again.

Nikolett Barra is a financial administrator from Hungary who has lived herein the UK for 10 years. For her the entire project has been madness, but one which it isn’t too late to stop.

“Brexit – a word which I laughed at first and now it just makes me shiver,” she said. “I fail to understand why anyone in their right mind would head towards this much uncertainty.

“I was not allowed a say in this huge change, I was not allowed to vote about my own future, purely because I do not hold the right kind of passport.

“For EU citizens Brexit is like being told to sit in the back of a van which is taking you somewhere you didn’t want to go. Would it be such a terrible thing to apply the brake pedal, stop for a second and admit that the GPS coordinates we entered two years ago were wrong? Decisions can still be respected without driving off the cliff.”

Those wanting to remain in the UK after March 2019 can apply for ‘settled status’ if they can prove they’ve lived here for 5 years. Yet for many the path can be precarious.

This week, plans were revealed stating that EU migrants would be required to earn £30,000 before they are allowed to come to the UK on a visa. prompting concern over how EU citizens are viewed.

Bregje van Veelen is a 31-year-old researcher from the Netherlands who has lived in Scotland for 11 years and has a British husband.

She said: “The day after the Brexit referendum I was in shock, with no idea what to expect. To tackle the uncertainty I started the process to ‘Brexit-proof’ myself almost straight away. I applied for a registration certificate, residence card, and ultimately British citizenship.

“To be honest, it feels somewhat bittersweet: to have become a British citizen at a time where EU citizens are increasingly made to feel like ‘others’.

“I now feel more secure, although my job prospects are uncertain, as my research is funded by the EU. I also worry for EU citizens here whose road to settled status or citizenship is more challenging, as well as for British nationals (especially those with EU partners) and their ability to move to the continent if they ever wanted or needed to.”

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Yet for some the concern is historical, and that the EU represents more than a group of nations.

Trudy Duffy, 62, is Dutch and has lived in Scotland for 11 years running a haberdashery shop.

“The European project was about peace and, having lived in an occupied country, my grandfather was passionate about this,” she said.

“Of course the EU has grown arms and legs and one might rightfully say that the organisation needs some restructuring.

“However, many in the UK have little knowledge or understanding about the utopian origin of the EU; hence the vilification of a organisation that served all of us well for the last 60 years.”

Yesterday the Government announced that it would be fully implementing it’s no deal preparations.Some, such as Jérémie Fernandes, a librarian from France, believes that a no-deal exit is inevitable.

He said: “From a professional point of view, Brexit is obviously very worrying. I have built a career here, I am responsible for a college library and I am on the board of the professional body for librarians in Scotland (CILIPS).

"I am not on a permanent contract and I am not even sure that my employer will be able to renew my contract if I have to get a visa.

“From a personal point of view, it’s even worse, I am supposed to get married in April 2020 to a Scot. I am not even sure I’ll be allowed to stay in the country until then.

“My partner doesn’t speak French so heading back to France is a non-starter."

Though leaving is not a choice that many feel they can make, some EU citizens basedliving in Scotland are looking for a way out. Bissie Anderson is a PhD researcher who has lived herein Scotland for 10 years.

She has a husband and a child who may well be going with her if she leaves.

“Regardless of any vague assurances given to us by the UK government with regards to ‘securing’ our rights, the damage has been done,” she said.

“The country that many of us had come to love and cherish has turned against us.”

"It doesn’t matter how many degrees you may have, how much you earn or how deeply integrated into society you may be, we are now the ‘Other’, the enemy.

“No assurances can reverse the stress and emotional turmoil many of us have undergone, and will, no doubt, continue to experience as Brexit bites.

“It won’t be easy to up sticks as I have a settled life here: a home and a Scottish family, but I don’t think I can stomach living in a dystopian Brexitland, with whatever little devolved powers Scotland has taken away and the ensuing loss of rights (for everyone, not just foreigners).

“With a bit of luck, in a few years’ time, I’ll likely be off to a place where I am respected and valued for the skills I bring and the contribution I make, and I’ll be taking a couple of Scotsmen with me. ‘Brexodus’ is not just reserved for people born outside this country.”