GLASGOW, Scotland — A former Scottish National Party leader predicts Scotland will become an independent country as a result of the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union.
Alex Salmond made the prediction after two opinion polls showed a majority of Scots now back the break-up of the U.K.
Earlier Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that the Britain that Scots had voted to remain a part of in 2014 “does not exist anymore.”
The first minister also warned that Scottish politicians could try to veto the U.K.’s EU exit.
She said that she would "of course" urge ministers of the Scottish Parliament to refuse if the Scottish capital was asked to give its consent to legislation required to leave.
Sturgeon also warned the next Conservative prime minister against any attempt to block a second independence referendum.
On Monday, Finance Minister George Osborne attempted to allay market fears over Brexit while "leave" campaign leader and potential candidate for prime minister Boris Johnson urged Britons on Monday to "build bridges" after the controversial vote.
As the shock waves continued to ripple across the continent, Berlin asked the United Kingdom to "reconsider."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hosting an emergency meeting with other European leaders Monday to discuss the Brexit vote, just 24 hours before Prime Minister David Cameron is scheduled to attend an EU summit.
Some European leaders have called for negotiations on the terms of the U.K.’s exit to begin immediately.
But the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond indicated that the U.K. would resist pressure from Brussels and other EU countries to start negotiations before a new prime minister is in place.
Meanwhile, a senior German politician and Merkel ally, Gunther Krichbaum, predicted that an independent Scotland would soon be a member of the EU.
He was quoted as saying: "The EU will still have 28 members because I'm counting on a new independence referendum in Scotland which will be successful. We should quickly reply to an application from an EU friendly country."
In a special live edition of the BBC’s Question Time, Salmond was asked whether he thought that the outcome of the EU referendum was that Scotland would leave the U.K.
“Yes,” he replied.
He added: “(Former Prime Minister) John Major said exactly that during the campaign. We cannot have our country taken out of Europe against the express will of our people.”
Sturgeon has announced plans to seek talks with EU institutions and other EU member states.
Sturgeon also said that ministers of the Scottish Parliament could refuse to back Westminster legislation taking the U.K. out of EU law.
By convention, British members of Parliament must ask Holyrood, the Scottish capital's, permission to legislate in devolved areas.
But the scenario was dismissed by the Scottish Secretary David Mundell.
He said that politicians needed to wait "to see” what mechanisms would be used to leave the EU.
“I personally don't believe the Scottish Parliament is in position to block Brexit," he added.
Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara, Kim Hjelmgaard and John Bacon, USA TODAY. Follow Kate Devlin and Magnus Gardham on Twitter: @_katedevlin and @GardhamHT
