A EUROPEAN museum is flying a Saltire at half-mast in tribute to SNP icon Winnie Ewing following her death at the age of 93.
The tribute is taking place to recognise the former MEP’s appointment as “Honorary Conservator of the Scottish Privileges in the Netherlands”.
The title, which was granted to her in 1996 on the 700th anniversary of the city of Veere, was originally created to protect the rights of Scottish traders but had not been used since 1799.
In a statement, Museum Veere said: “Mrs Ewing was very proud of this title. Museum Veere owes great gratitude to Mrs Ewing and flies its Scottish flag at half-mast for the coming days.”
Former SNP MP Stephen Gethins, who is professor of international relations at the University of St Andrews, said Ewing had been “groundbreaking” in terms of her forward thinking on the party’s relationship with Europe, which included helping set up a popular exchange programme.
He said: “She was instrumental in getting Erasmus going, which has benefited so many young people, not just in Scotland but throughout Europe, in terms of students but also apprenticeships as well.
“Erasmus is something that is not just aimed at higher education, but also further education and also people who are in work.
“So it’s a real way of providing opportunities for young people.
“And I think that speaks to her internationalism.”
He said the SNP was the most united party at Westminster in the aftermath of Brexit because it was completely behind the idea that Scotland should be a member of the EU.
He added: “The whole idea of independence is couched in the terms that the European Union has made the United Kingdom outdated in terms of the nature of the union and actually a lot of that legacy was thanks to Winnie.
“She was internationalist and pivotal with bringing about things like Erasmus that brought real consequential benefits to people like me, but also to others who wouldn’t have had those opportunities otherwise.
“I think that legacy is absolutely still there and if we look at the way politics has shaped, when Scotland becomes independent, it got that boost from Brexit because people identified with the idea of Scotland being a member of the European Union.
“And in that regard, she was years ahead of her time where people in every European country except one, see that the idea of independence and sovereignty is strengthened by being a member of the EU.”
Gethins also pointed out there were other influential SNP figures who had been MEPs, such as Allan Macartney and Neil MacCormick.
He added: “Whereas other parties might have sent some of their secondary figures to the European Parliament, that wasn’t the case with the SNP.
“And Winnie led way in that being a figure, a real person of clout within the party, and saw a career for herself within the European Parliament.
“Having that strong voice for Scotland within the European institutions and seeing that as a parliament where the party in the country had a future was really important.
“Winnie was one of the most significant figures from the national movement and saw that as being where she belonged.
“So I think the message sent out to people like me, to younger generations, was that this was absolutely somewhere that was important and somewhere that we should be investing in.”
