Nicola Sturgeon To Meet EU Leaders In Drive To Keep Scotland In Bloc

Edinburgh: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will meet European Parliament chiefs in Brussels on Wednesday as she launches a drive to negotiate a way for Scotland to remain in the European Union, she said on Tuesday.

Scotland, a nation of five million people, voted to stay in the EU by 62 to 38 per cent in last week's referendum, putting it at odds with the United Kingdom as a whole, which voted 52 to 48 per cent in favour of Brexit.

Sturgeon has repeatedly made it clear since the results were announced on Friday that she will take all necessary steps to keep Scotland in the bloc, including revisiting the issue of Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.

She said on Tuesday that in an initial visit to Brussels on Wednesday she would set out Scotland's position and interests to European Parliament President Martin Schulz and to representatives of the major groups of European lawmakers.

She also said that after this week's European Council, she intended to discuss the Scottish issue directly with the European Commission, the EU's executive body.

"Our early priority has been to ensure that there is a widespread awareness across Europe of Scotland's different choice in the referendum and of our aspiration to stay in the EU," Sturgeon told the Scottish parliament.

"We will intensify this work in the days and weeks ahead. It is my responsibility to ensure that Scotland's voice is heard in Europe, and I intend to do so."

Sturgeon said she had already discussed the fallout from the Brexit vote with the president and prime minister of Ireland, and that the Scottish government was directly in touch with the governments of other EU member states.

Turning to the situation in London, where Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has announced his resignation and the Labour opposition is in meltdown, Sturgeon said the political vacuum was unacceptable.

"There cannot be three months of drift while both the government and main opposition parties at Westminster immerse themselves in internal elections. That would compound the difficult situation we are already facing and risk even more damage to our economy," she said.