Nato and EU would be ‘cornerstones’ of security, says Sturgeon

NICOLA Sturgeon has said that membership of the EU and Nato would be the “cornerstones” of an independent Scotland’s security apparatus.

With Russia’s war in Ukraine prompting Finland and Sweden to apply for Nato membership, Ms Sturgeon told a US audience her belief in the nuclear defence alliance was now stronger than ever.

The statement underlined the split with her Green partners in the Scottish Government over the issue of defence.

Green co-leader Patrick Harvie yesterday reaffirmed his party’s opposition to an independent Scotland joining Nato.

SNP policy is to join the alliance but also to remove Trident from the Clyde, potentially disarming the UK, one of just three Nato nuclear powers.

In a speech about energy security at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, the First Minister began by discussing Ukraine.

She said: “The party I lead, the Scottish National Party, determined back in 2012 – at that time a reversal

of a longstanding position – that should Scotland become independent it should seek membership of Nato.

“There is no doubt that the events of the last three months have strengthened my conviction that this position is absolutely the right and essential one.

“I am even more firm in my view that – coupled with a strong relationship with the UK – membership of the EU and of Nato will be cornerstones of an independent Scotland’s security policy.”

She said her Government was “acutely aware of Scotland’s strategic position on the northern edge of Europe”, close to the Arctic.

She said Russian military aircraft “regularly approached” the UK’S area of interest, and there had been an increase in Russian submarine patrols within the North Atlantic.

“And so we are clearer than ever that membership of Nato would not only be vital to Scotland’s security – though it most definitely would be – it would also be the principal way in which an independent Scotland, in an interdependent world, would contribute to the collective security of our neighbours and allies.”

Tory MSP Donald Cameron said Ms Sturgeon had “betrayed her naivety, and the SNP’S weakness, on international security”.

He said: “She was keen to talk up how an independent Scotland would help the collective security of the West, yet conveniently forgot to mention her party is committed to removing the UK nuclear deterrent.

“She also failed to address how her mission to break up the UK would help Western security – as she well knows, that’s something the UK’S enemies would relish.”

Discussing the move to net zero and the climate crisis, Ms Sturgeon stressed the importance of helping communities reliant on fossil fuels find new work in renewables.

She said if the change was mishandled, it could lead to angry voters turning to populist politicians who could worsen the climate crisis.

She said: “That would be disastrous for our environment, detrimental for our, in some places, already fragile democracies, and deeply dangerous for our national and international security.”

Asked in a Q&A which policies the United States could adopt to better assist European energy security, Ms Sturgeon replied: “Don’t re-elect Trump at any point.”

She said that was “too lighthearted an answer” but then heaped praise on the attitude of President Joe Biden’s administration at last year’s COP26 climate conference.

She said: “It was visible and tangible, the difference that constructive American leadership made to getting the outcome that we achieved in Glasgow.”

Mr Trump, who is contemplating a run in the 2024 US election, backed oil, coal and fracking as President.

Ms Sturgeon also said Scotland could use its vast off-shore wind power capacity to generate hydrogen and so become the most reliable and cheapest producer of green hydrogen in Europe.