The Spanish foreign secretary has said an independent Scotland would have to join the queue to get back into the EU.
Alfonso Dastis told reporters that Spain – which is trying to quell separatist sentiment in Catalonia and the Basque country – “supports the integrity of the UK”.
Responding to Nicola Sturgeon’s call for a referendum, Mr Dastis said Scotland “would have to queue, meet the requirements for entry, hold negotiations and the result would be that these negotiations would take place”.
As with all member states, Spain has a veto on countries joining the bloc.
But Elmar Brok MEP, chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, said negotiations for Scotland to rejoin the EU would be “easy” because it “fulfils all the legal needs” of membership.
The First Minister’s spokesman said: “If there was a queue then something like half or dozen or more countries, which were not even independent at the time that Turkey first applied to the European Union, would not be EU members.
“The suggestion of a queue is a complete and utter fallacy.”
