Sturgeon on independence referendum, NATO membership

(17 May 2022) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Washington DC - 17 May 2022 1. UPSOUND (English) Anna Johnson, AP Washington Bureau Chief, speaking to Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon: "Speaking of Brexit and Boris Johnson and the Conservative party, is the plan for Scotland to still hold a referendum on independence next year?" 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister: "Yes, I was reelected as First Minister about this time last year and was reelected on a very firm mandate to offer people in Scotland that choice. We are currently working on the plans for that. Both are in process of that. But more importantly, perhaps on the substance, the world has changed quite markedly in many respects since 2014. So making sure that we put forward the prospectus, the case for independence that takes account of those changes and is important and work on that is underway." 3. Cutaway of Johnson asking a question 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister: "I believe that with all of the challenges that rightly you're raising with me, it's all the more important that Scotland plays its full part and trying to be a small country, trying to be a constructive voice in the world and trying to play our part and finding the solutions to the challenges the world faces and independence better equips us to to do that." 5. Cutaway 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister: "About my very strong view, reinforced by the situation in Ukraine that an independent Scotland would be part of NATO  to make sure that we were playing our part in the wider security of our neighborhood and the allies and friends around us." 7. Cutaway 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister: "At its heart, the Scottish Independence Movement is an internationalist project. It's not about turning away from the world. It's not about separation. It's about how do we ensure that Scotland, a country with historic traditions of being a force in the world, can play that positive force in the world in the future." 9. Cutaway 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister: "Historically, traditionally, we'd been opposed to NATO's membership for an independent Scotland and then in 2012 changed that, but did so quite narrowly. And now I'm not aware of there having been recent opinion polling in Scotland on NATO membership, but I strongly suspect that a bit like Finland and Sweden, we would now find overwhelming support in Scotland for the notion that should Scotland become independent, it should be part of NATO because Scotland's geographic position is a key part of the North Atlantic means that it would be essential for our security, but also the principle way in which Scotland could contribute to the wider security of a region." 11. Cutaway 12. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister: "Imagine Scotland not being part of the NATO alliance I think would be detrimental both to Scotland and to the alliance itself. So I am well, obviously there will be processes after Scotland becoming independent to accede to membership. I am very confident that it would be seen as in very much the mutual benefit of Scotland and the rest of NATO that we would have full and fully participating and constructive part." 13. Cutaway of Johnson asking a question 14. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister: 15. Cutaway 16. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister: 17. Cutaway 18. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister: 19. Cutaway STORYLINE: Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...