(Vatican Radio) Scotland's first minister says she believes the Scottish parliament could veto Britain's planned exit from the European Union. Nicola Sturgeon made the announcement Sunday just days after a slight majority of British voters backed a Brexit in a nationwide referendum, a move that sent jitters through former Communist countries on EU's fringe, including Ukraine.Listen to Stefan Bos' report: Sturgeon confirmed that she would consider asking Scottish legislators not to back a motion of legislative consent to Britain's exit from the European Union. The bombshell announcement by the pro-EU leader would effectively amount to a Scottish veto of Brexit.She told the BBC network, however, that the Scottish parliament is entitled to make such decisions. "The issue you are talking about is would there have to be a legislative consent motion or motions for the legislation that extricates the UK from the European U...
(Vatican Radio) Scotland's first minister says she believes the Scottish parliament could veto Britain's planned exit from the European Union. Nicola Sturgeon made the announcement Sunday just days after a slight majority of British voters backed a Brexit in a nationwide referendum, a move that sent jitters through former Communist countries on EU's fringe, including Ukraine.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
Sturgeon confirmed that she would consider asking Scottish legislators not to back a motion of legislative consent to Britain's exit from the European Union. The bombshell announcement by the pro-EU leader would effectively amount to a Scottish veto of Brexit.
She told the BBC network, however, that the Scottish parliament is entitled to make such decisions. "The issue you are talking about is would there have to be a legislative consent motion or motions for the legislation that extricates the UK from the European Union?", she said.
"Looking at it from a logical perspective, I find it hard to believe that there wouldn't be that requirement - I suspect that the UK government will take a very different view on that and we'll have to see where that discussion ends up."
Pro-Europe
She was speaking after Thursday's referendum which saw Britain vote by 52 percent to leave the EU. In Scotland the picture was totally different with 62 percent wanting to Remain in the still 28 nation bloc.
Sturgeon has also said that it is "highly likely" that Scotland will hold a second independence referendum because of Britain's decision to withdraw from the EU.
Brexit has added to concerns among European leaders that more countries will follow Britain's example. Former communist countries seeking closer ties are particularly concerned, such as Ukraine, which is seeking membership.
Kiev fears Brexit could weaken Brussels' support for Ukraine and undermine its efforts to stand up to Russia. President Petro Poroshenko has urged the EU to maintain sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and alleged military support for pro-Russian separatists.
And Prime Minister Volodymur Groysman appealed to Europe not to forget that "Ukraine suffered for its European choice".
Many killed
That was a reference to the more than a hundred people who were killed in and around Kyiv’s central Independence Square, known as the Maidan, during protests that led to the ouster of Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.
Ukrainian authorities say they have detained four former officers of the "Berkut" riot police for their alleged role in the violent dispersal of pro-European protesters.
They were charged with abuse of power, attempted murder, and illegally preventing citizens from gathering and demonstrating.
One of the suspects was also charged with the premeditated murder of more than one person.
Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 24, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).Asked during a new interview if he has any message for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who instigated the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis stated that "a negotiated peace is better than an endless war."CBS News broadcast some excerpts April 24 from a new interview conducted by journalist Norah O'Donnell with Pope Francis at St. Martha House, the pontiff's residence in the Vatican.During the exchange, the full version of which will be released on May 19, the Holy Father reflected on world conflicts and especially on the suffering of children during wars.O'Donnell asked the Holy Father if he had any message for Vladimir Putin regarding Ukraine, to which the pontiff replied: "Please, countries at war, all of them... Stop the war. Seek to negotiate. Seek peace. A negotiated peace is better than an e...
An aerial view of Washington Square in San Francisco on May 22, 2020. / Credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty ImagesCNA Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).San Francisco police arrested a homeless man last Sunday for allegedly stabbing a parent from a nearby Catholic school after an altercation involving the two outside a historic Catholic church in the city. Twenty-five-year-old Marko Asaulyuk of San Francisco was charged with attempted murder and eight counts of assault with a deadly weapon.The Catholic school father, who was released from the hospital Sunday, only suffered a minor injury to his leg, Father Tho Bui, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Church, told CNA Thursday in an email.San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was conferring the sacrament of confirmation on the parish school's students and students from a nearby parish during a noon Mass when a "disruptive man" entered the church, as Bui described him.The man was walking up and down the main aisle of the ...
The pro-life flag from the Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com). / Credit: Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com)Toronto, Canada, Apr 25, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).The International Pro-Life Flag will not fly over Toronto Catholic schools this May.Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) trustees voted against an April 23 motion proposed by trustee Michael Del Grande that the pro-life flag fly outside all schools and the Catholic Education Centre during the month of May, just as the board voted to fly the Pride flag in June.Del Grande's motion was defeated at the April 23 board meeting when only Garry Tanuan supported Del Grande's motion. The eight other board members in attendance and the two student trustees opposed his proposal.Though Del Grande could not muster enough backing from his colleagues, his plan, which would have also directed all TCDSB schools to teach an exclusively pro-life curriculum on May 9, the day of the National March for Life, garnered bois...