EFA defends Scotland’s place in Europe and the right to decide on its own future

The European Free Alliance calls on the EU institutions, as well as its 28 member states, to recognize the right of Scotland to remain in the European Union regardless of the Brexit outcome, and defends the right of the Scottish people to decide whether they want their nation to become an independent country in the EU.

Scotland overwhelmingly voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum and therefore it must not be taken out of the Union against its will. EFA will keep supporting the Scottish people and its member party the Scottish National Party (SNP) in their struggle for securing their place as a European nation.

As the only European political party clearly standing up for the right to self-determination, EFA has been actively supporting the right of Scotland to decide on its future status in Europe, and welcomes the announcement made on 15 October by the Scottish First Minister and SNP’s leader, Nicola Sturgeon, to request a Section 30 order for a second independence referendum by the end of the year.

“With the cases of Scotland and Catalonia on the table, Europe cannot keep obviating one of the biggest challenges it must face: the right of nations to self-determination and their full access to the EU”, EFA President, Lorena López de Lacalle, said during the SNP Annual Conference in Aberdeen.

“Next year the right to self-determination will become an important topic in the European agenda and it will force the EU to act. We cannot forget that Scottish citizens are European citizens that, because of Brexit, they are going to be dragged out of the EU against their express will. The EU should establish clear procedures for territories to achieve independence within the Union so that States could not block peoples’ will”, López de Lacalle added.

“How we campaign for independence will always reflect the open, tolerant, inclusive and democratic nation we are determined to build. It is time to place Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands. To take our own decisions and chart our own course. It is time to play our part in building a better world”, Sturgeon said in her keynote speech.

EFA fringe event at the SNP Annual Conference

On 15 October the European Free Alliance organized a fringe event (open discussion) in the frame of the 2019 Annual Conference of its member party the SNP. The conference, chaired by the President of the EFA group in the European Parliament and SNP MEP, Alyn Smith, was focused on the right to self-determination in a changing Europe.

The speakers included Member of the Welsh Assembly and Plaid Cymru Shadow International Affairs & Culture Minister, Delyth Jewell, former EFA MEP from the Republican Left of Catalonia, Josep-Maria Terricabras, and the International Officer of YSI -SNP’s youth branch- Valentina Servera.

A delegation of EFA took part in the SNP conference, including the party President, Lorena López de Lacalle, and members of the Bureau, Fernando Fuente and Wouter Patho.