ONE of the Netherlands’s top newspapers has put a spotlight on First Minister Nicola Sturgeon ahead of the Holyrood election, describing 2021 as “the year of Scotland”.

De Volkskrant, a national daily paper with a circulation of around 250,000, writes that if the SNP wins a majority in May then “a second referendum on [Scotland’s] independence is almost inevitable”.

The article acknowledges recent polls on Scottish independence have reached highs of up to 58% - a major difference from the 2014 Yes result of 45%.

READ MORE: Could remorse of Leave voters boost support for Scottish independence?

After Brexit happened despite 62% of Scots backing Remain, and Boris Johnson winning an 80-seat majority with poor ratings in Scotland, journalist Patrick van IJzendoorn explains a lot has changed since the referendum took place a little over six years ago.

Scotland’s First Minister “differs from the controversial British Prime Minister in almost every respect”, he writes. “The 50-year-old lawyer, daughter of an electrician and a dental assistant, is serious, sober, euro-minded and progressive.”

He adds: “That's quite different from the flamboyant, libertarian, and risk-taking boarding school boy Johnson who has an unruly relationship with the truth.”

The National:

With Johnson in charge, van IJzendoorn writes, even the Scottish Conservatives are “struggling” and “increasingly distancing itself from the parent party for fear of being destroyed by Sturgeon's SNP”.

The article touches on the coronavirus pandemic, where the difference between leadership in London and Edinburgh has been “apparent”.

Johnson’s “laissez-faire” approach to the pandemic has been less effective than Sturgeon’s response, the journalist writes. “Sturgeon's star has therefore risen to great heights in the past year,” he adds.

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There are issues facing Sturgeon, however – with the story touching on Holyrood’s inquiry into the Scottish Government’s handling of allegations against former First Minister Alex Salmond. Last year at a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, Salmond was cleared of all charges of sexual assault.

The year prior Salmond won his judicial review after the Scottish Government admitted it had botched an inquiry into complaints against him – this is what MSPs are looking into.

With Salmond and Sturgeon both soon to appear before the committee, tensions are growing. “Since then, Salmond has launched a counterattack on his former protégée,” the article notes. “He suspects Sturgeon has abused her position of power to destroy him. In an investigation currently under the leadership of an Irish former chief prosecutor, Salmond even accused the current Prime Minister of knowingly and knowingly lied to Parliament.”

Salmond's comments about Sturgeon were dismissed by deputy FM John Swinney as "absolute nonsense".

The National: ALEX SALMOND: Scotland’s First Minister is pushing for full independence from the United Kingdom

The row “hits the heart of a dormant cultural struggle within the nationalist movement”, van IJzendoorn writes.

Ahead of the May election there are many questions facing Sturgeon, the journalist says – on how independence would work as well as the Salmond saga.

“Her fate is at stake, and indirectly that of Great Britain,” the article concludes.

The story comes after several European and global news outlets stepped up coverage of calls for independence following nearly 20 polls showing majority support for ending the Union.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon will make independence case to Europe at major event

Next week the First Minister will speak on independence, Brexit and the state of the Union at online Irish Times event.

[The article was originally written in Dutch but has been translated through an online service.]