In an unusual departure for Newsnet we are promoting the petition below by Europe for Scotland. Newsnet is pro-Independence and profoundly pro-European. Whatever the personal affiliations or non-affiliations of individual writers may be Newsnet is non-political and covers stories it believes need to be told. We urge readers to to sign this petition if you have not done so and to share on social media. Editor
This week, the European council in Brussels delivered a historic decision.
Sidestepping the opposition of Orban, EU leaders agreed to begin accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova and granted candidate status to Georgia.
Pro-EU demonstrations in Kyiv, 2017
Ukraine and Moldova taking the next steps towards EU membership is great news for all of us who believe in a welcoming, outward-looking and inclusive European Union.
Crucially for us, it is also great news for Scotland as this illustrates that the EU can be both prompt and flexible if there is political will on both sides.
Furthermore, this news should reassure anyone in Scotland that the hurdles for joining the EU are far less steep than the UK media makes them out to be.
If Ukraine and Moldova can begin their journey towards EU membership despite not meeting all accession criteria–not to mention the ongoing war in Ukraine – then surely no one should have any doubt that Scotland, which is much more closely aligned with the EU, will have a smooth path in rejoining.
However, while we celebrate this news, let’s not just sit on our hands.
2024 will see the first EU parliamentary elections in which, due to Brexit, Scottish citizens will not be able to vote. At the same time it will be the most consequential EU election in decades.
Now is the time to remind the EU of their neighbours in the North who left against their will.
Now is the time to assert Scotland’s desire to rejoin the European family of nations as an independent country.
Together, let’s make sure that Europeans and candidates in next year’s European Parliament elections will include Scotland when discussing plans for enlargement and reform.
Thanks to more than 15 hundred Scots who have already signed our new petition asking to include Scotland in the conversation on EU enlargement.
Click on the image below to sign the petition
If we get to 3000 before the end of the year, we’ll have a solid foundation to make sure Scotland’s voice is heard during the EU elections.
Please help us grow it by sharing it with a colleague, relative, neighbour or friend–or, ideally, with all of them!
Only together can we grow this petition and really make a difference!
In European solidarity
Europe for Scotland
Note: The credit for image of the Kyiv pro EU demonstration in 2017 is Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images
