THE First Minister is visiting Brussels for a series of engagements including meeting with the American and British Chambers of Commerce and a keynote speech at the European Policy Centre.

After landing in Belgium, Humza Yousaf paid tribute to Winnie Ewing, the trailblazing SNP politician who spent two decades working in the European Parliament.

Ewing, who passed away aged 93 last week, became known as “Madame Ecosse” by her European counterparts during her time as an MEP, a nickname which stuck fast.

READ MORE: 'What a woman': Thousands pay tribute to Winnie Ewing at Stirling Yes rally

Yousaf said: “Winnie Ewing was steadfastly European, and an internationalist. She advocated tirelessly for Scotland’s interests as an outward-looking nation which collaborates with our European partners on common challenges and issues.

“The alliances and friendships which Winnie formed and pursued during her three parliamentary careers helped play a key role in shaping the perception of Scotland as a true European nation.

“As chair of the European Parliament’s Education and Culture Committee, she was a key architect of the Erasmus scheme, which commenced in 1987 and which benefited tens of thousands of young Scots until 2016.

“Winnie Ewing’s support for Scotland’s place in Europe was unwavering. It is only fitting that as I travel to Brussels, we continue to demonstrate the value we place on our European partnerships and Scotland’s interests within the EU – especially in the aftermath of Brexit.

“Scotland has an important contribution to make to the EU in the years ahead. However, it’s abundantly clear that we can only realise our enormous potential as a nation free from Westminster control, where we can decide for ourselves what kind of country we want to be.”

On Wednesday, Yousaf will meet Maros Sefcovic, the vice-president of the European Commission.

The SNP leader will also meet with stakeholders in trade, investment and the energy sector.

It comes after Yousaf suggested that sending an envoy to Brussels could be one of the SNP’s moves in an attempt to firm up a route to independence in the wake of a General Election win.

Anonymous briefings in The Times have suggested that the EU would not look to deal with the Scottish envoy, instead wanting to stay out of internal UK politics.