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Scottish Prime Minister Nicholas Sturgeon today expressed his hope that Scotland would gain independence and join the EU, noting that Brexit was against the will of the Scots, who voted overwhelmingly against leaving the EU. in the 2016 referendum, reported AFP, cited by BTA.
“We are currently enduring a hard Brexit against our will, at the worst possible time, amid a pandemic and economic recession,” Sturgeon said on his Scottish National Party (SNP) website two days after Britain left the market. sole and the EU customs union. .
He reiterated his determination to hold a new referendum on Scottish independence, after which he lost his separatist camp in 2014, when 55 per cent of Scots wanted to stay in the UK.
However, the decision to organize such a referendum was taken by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and he firmly refused. However, a possible convincing victory for the SNP in May’s local elections would increase pressure on London to adopt a new referendum.
According to the latest poll by the Savanta ComRes Institute for Scottsman in mid-December, 58 percent of Scots already support a break with the UK.
“As an independent member of the EU, Scotland will be a partner and able to build bridges, not only towards a stronger economy and a fairer society, but also to facilitate Britain’s relations with the EU,” said Sturgeon.
In 2016, 51.9 percent of Britons voted for Brexit, but 62 percent of Scots opposed leaving the EU.
“In our nearly 50 years of membership, we have benefited greatly from the four freedoms of the single market, including freedom of movement. More than 230,000 Europeans have settled in Scotland. They are our friends, our family and we would like to stay,” he said Sturgeon.
After Brexit, “the rights of our citizens to work, study and live in other parts of Europe will be restricted,” he said, noting that last year 2,000 Scots participated in the Erasmus student exchange program, which the British government dropped out and replaced with his international university program.
“We did not want to leave and we hope to join you soon as an equal partner,” Sturgeon concluded in a statement.
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