SNP join in alliance with Euro MPs

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Jul 11, 1999

The two Scottish National Party Euro MPs are to join an alliance of the Green party and the pro-independence grouping, the European Free Alliance, in the Brussels parliament.

The new grouping of 38 Green party MEPs and nine others from independence movements throughout Europe will be the fourth largest grouping in the parliament, which has a right-wing majority The two SNP members, Ian Hudghton and Professor Neil MacCormick, will sit with colleagues from Wales, Flanders, Galecia, Andalucia and the Basque Country.

Membership of the Greens/ European Free Alliance was ratified at a meeting of the SNP executive yesterday. SNP leader Alex Salmond said partnership would be a powerful platform on which the Nationalists can stand up for Scotland's interests. "The SNP have a strong record of commitment on environmental issues, and the Greens are long-standing proponents of the right to self-determination, so the partners in this new group share a great deal of common ground," said Salmond. Hudghton added: "It is the best position that the SNP could occupy in the European parliament. The partnership agreement between the SNP and the Greens is an exciting development in European politics, and reflects the spirit of the new politics that is emerging in Scotland."