“WHY not Scotland?” – that’s the question the SNP are asking as Keir Starmer hosts a summit of 47 European countries, more than half of which are similar to or smaller in size than Scotland.
The Labour Prime Minister is aiming to “reset [the UK’s] relationship with Europe” at the European Political Community (EPC) gathering at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire on Thursday.
Planned long before the General Election, the summit – the post-Ukraine invasion brainchild of France’s Emmanuel Macron – was set to be hosted by Tory leader Rishi Sunak, but is now being used by Labour to try to forge closer links with the European Union and other European states.
The SNP have highlighted how, of the 47 countries present at the summit, 26 of them have populations which are comparable to or smaller than Scotland (which is home to roughly 5.5 million people according to the 2022 census).
Of those 26 countries, 12 are in the EU: Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
A further 14 are not: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, and San Marino.
Clare Adamson, an SNP MSP and the convenor of Holyrood’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, said: “47 different countries have been invited to the European Political Community summit – they will all have the opportunity to represent their interests in key areas such as energy, defence, and migration.
“Scotland has a key role to play in each of these issues, yet we will have no voice at this vital summit. This is despite over half of the independent nations attending having similar or a smaller population than Scotland.
“Countries of similar size to Scotland such as Ireland, Norway and Denmark are already fairer and wealthier than the UK, and now each of them will have a say in shaping their future.
“With all our resources and talents – why not Scotland?”
At the EPC, Prime Minister Starmer called for continent-wide action to tackle the international “people-smuggling webs”.
He will join a session on migration co-chaired by Italy’s right-wing leader Giorgia Meloni.
The Labour Government is seeking a security pact with the EU and Starmer is also determined to cement European nations’ support for Ukraine in its war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
However, EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen is facing a vote on her position in Brussels and will not be present, which reports say could limit the scope of what can be discussed at the Oxfordshire summit.
Commenting on the EPC meeting, Starmer said: “We cannot let the challenges of the recent past define our relationships of the future.
“That is why European security will be at the forefront of this Government’s foreign and defence priorities, and why I am focused on seizing this moment to renew our relationship with Europe.
“The EPC will fire the starting gun on this Government’s new approach to Europe, one that will not just benefit us now, but for generations to come, from dismantling the people-smuggling webs trafficking people across Europe, to standing up to Putin’s barbaric actions in Ukraine and destabilising activity across Europe.”
