Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Comment: Kosovo could end Scotland's European dream
26 February 2008
Simon James, 'Financial Times' Scotland's nationalists have always affected breezy insouciance about Europe, asserting that an independent Scotland would automatically remain an EU member state.
The Scottish nationalists' fallback is to argue that other EU states would never lock Scotland out. Most EU members, including probably the residual UK, would probably reason like that. Yet this seriously underestimates the fear that runs through those countries that oppose Kosovo's independence. Their motivation is nationalist and, like the Scottish National party, they put their nation first. …
If these countries think Scottish independence will encourage their separatists - and Basque leaders and Turkish Cypriots have openly hailed Kosovo as a precedent - blocking Scottish EU membership would be their only means of hindering it. …