EU nationals living in Scotland expressed their fears for the future yesterday as the reality of Brexit set in – but said they don’t want to leave their adopted home.
Before the 2014 independence referendum it was estimated that 80,000 of the 120,900-strong group would cast their votes on Scotland’s future.
This includes 33,100 Polish people, 13,400 Germans, 4,300 French citizens and 3,000 who moved here from Spain, with those from more than 20 other nations also represented.
This time they were excluded from the process despite the implications for both their countries of origin and current home.
Yesterday Polish-born Kasia Kokowska, a project manager at Edinburgh University, said she felt like “a pebble thrown into a tin and the tin has been violently shaken”.
Kokowska said: “Not being able to vote was so frustrating that I ended up barking at anyone who wanted to speak to me about it.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. Will I be able to stay in a place that after 10 years I now call home? Will I still have my job? Will I be able to keep my flat and pay my mortgage? What will happen to my friends who have been here for less than five years?”
She cast doubt on further Polish immigration to Scotland, but added: “I woke up today at 3.45am and I cried as soon as the news started sinking in. I get teary every time BBC confirms 74 per cent of Edinburgh voters voted Remain. I am where I should be.”
Robert Motyka, whose graphics and design firm Wee Dog Media is also based in Scotland’s capital, said he feels “at home” here after almost nine years, adding: “I live with a Bulgarian partner, we purchased a flat last year and are still decorating it. If I will be treated like a third class citizen then definitely I will leave. But so far I find Scots very open and welcoming.”
He went on: “Currently the Polish government is very nationalist and Eurosceptic, so I’m worrying that Poland might follow UK and leave the EU as well.
“It’s extremely frustrating not to be able to vote for something that’s going to affect my life and the lives of many EU nationals who have decided to make their homes in the UK. I feel that was a very direct political UK message for us – EU immigrants are not given a voice in this country.”
Originally from Sweden, Bailie Eva Bolander, who serves on Glasgow City Council, said she also felt excluded by the EU referendum, saying: “When you have lived in a country for several years, working and studying then being elected, it feels really strange not to have a chance to vote. That is the most shocking thing for me. It doesn’t bode well. When Nicola Sturgeon made her speech, the way she was talking to EU citizens and telling them their home is in Scotland is reassuring for me.
“The uncertainty of being in or out of the EU and the UK will definitely stop people from thinking about relocating here. The two main newspapers in Sweden led with Scotland facing a second referendum, not on the UK leaving the EU. Scotland has become known as its own entity far more than it was before 2014.”
Meanwhile, 28-year-old history student Aurel Chassany, from France, said he was “not surprised” by the result. Speaking from Perth, he said: “A referendum on the EU would never happen in France – some extremist parties might ask for it, but it would never be granted. A lot of people in France are shocked but I’m telling them to keep calm, there are two years of negotiations to take place. I’m not planning to leave, I’m staying in Scotland.”
Andreea Bocioaga, a 25-year-old Romanian studying for a PhD at Glasgow University, said: “The general attitude from the UK politicians towards Romanian citizens has been appalling. Our president said this morning the focus is on protecting citizens already here and negotiating a relationship with the UK. Hopefully the new Conservative government will try and mend some of the horrible things that have been said.
“It was really disempowering to see my future being decided without me. I’m happy that Scotland voted to remain, it definitely made it feel less alienating.”
Meanwhile, Professor Holger Nehring, a German citizen who specialises in history at Stirling University, said the result was “the end of the post-war period”.
He said: “This was something for peace and this has now been ridiculed by the Brexit camp. This would never have happened in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s or 1980s. Germany has lost a key ally in Europe. Britain had become almost the second pillar and a really important German ally. Merkel is very close in economic policy to what the Conservative government is doing here.”
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