The Scottish National Party’s stunning electoral win has led the Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond to announce that a referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom will take place in the second half of its legislature.

The SNP scored a stunning victory in Scotland to finally put together a majority government for the first time. In the past, the SNP had scored minority victories and while the issue of Scottish independence was mooted, it was always shot down by the ‘Big Three’.

This time though, Mr Salmond believes that the SNP’s vision for a ‘Free and just Scotland’ will be put to voters, for them to decide.

The UK government has also said that it will “not block” a Scottish referendum and the UK Labour Party, led by Ed Miliband (not to be confused with the Scottish affiliate) has said that Scotland should seek out another path, as it does not believe that the Scottish people “want independence or separatism.”

Mr Salmond said that the referendum will be held “well into the second half of the legislature,” suggesting that a referendum on independence could be tied in with another Scottish election campaign.

Of course, as a political force, it is Miliband’s Labour that stands to lose the most. About one-third of UK Labour MPs are Scottish and the eventuality of independence could lead to a massive haemorrhage of MPs who might seek a career north of the border. The UK Labour Party also has a power base in Scotland which it might lose, if the Scots do eventually decide to cede from the union.

It certainly looks to be interesting times, and this must also be taken within an EU context. The United Kingdom – although for many years regarded as a euro-sceptic country – has been brought into the European fold. Although it is not part of the eurozone and vows to retain the pound sterling, Tony Blair made great strides forward in relations with the EU, and to a certain degree, so has the new Prime Minister David Cameron.

But what would the future hold for an independent Scotland? The United Kingdom is part of the EU, but what would happen with an independent Scotland?

The Scottish Labour Party has said that Scotland would be forced to leave the EU and would then be put onto the track to accession, behind other countries that are already in the queue. But lobby group Scottish Independence Convention has said otherwise.

The group says that the 1995 Maastricht treaty conferred EU citizenship on the citizens of all member states. For Scotland to be forced out of the EU would, therefore, require the country to be stripped of EU citizenship and expelled. A decision of such magnitude would have to be taken by an EU summit of heads of State. In addition, the European Commission has never said Scotland would be expelled from the EU for reclaiming its independence.

The group quotes Eamonn Gallagher, the Glasgow-born former EU ambassador to the UN, who said: “There could be no sustainable legal or political objection to separate Scottish membership of the European Union.”

It believes that an independent Scotland would become a member of the EU in its own right after its financial arrangement with Brussels is negotiated. However, at a time when Europe is rethinking its own ideals, both in terms of finance and morality, the future is far from clear – although definitely interesting.