uropean Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said it would be "extremely difficult, if not impossible" for an independent Scotland to join the European Union.
Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr he said an independent Scotland would have to apply for membership and get the approval of all current member states.
Scotland's Finance Minister described his comments as "pretty preposterous".
John Swinney said Mr Barroso's view was based on a false comparison.
The referendum on Scottish independence will be held on 18 September, with voters being asked the Yes/No question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
New state
In his interview with Andrew Marr, Mr Barroso said: "In case there is a new country, a new state, coming out of a current member state it will have to apply."
He said it was important that "accession to the European Union will have to be approved by all other member states of the European Union."
He went on: "Of course it will be extremely difficult to get the approval of all the other member states to have a new member coming from one member state."
Mr Barroso cited the example of the Spanish not recognising Kosovo.
He said: "We have seen Spain has been opposing even the recognition of Kosovo, for instance. So it is to some extent a similar case because it's a new country and so I believe it's going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, a new member state coming out of our countries getting the agreement of the others."
However, Mr Barroso made clear that it was up to the people of Scotland to decide their future, and he said he did not want to interfere in that process.
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