BRUSSELS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- European Parliament President Martin Schulz on Friday morning hailed as "a sound decision" the Scottish rejection of independence.
"The Scottish people have voted to remain part the United Kingdom. First of all I welcome that this vote took place within a democratically agreed process inside of the country," he said in a press release.
Schulz said he believes that in a time when sticking together has proven its worth in "meeting the challenges we are facing in all walks of life," the result on Scotland referendum is "a sound decision."
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also welcomed the United Kingdom as a united country following the announcement of the referendum's final result.
"I welcome Prime Minister (David) Cameron's statement that the United Kingdom will go forward as a united country," Rasmussen said in a statement.
He also mentioned that the United Kingdom, as a founding member of NATO, will continue to play a leading role to keep the alliance strong.
Meanwhile, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka Friday morning said that he was really happy about the outcome of the vote, stressing that "it is not only good news for Scotland and Great Britain, but also for the entire European Union."
"If Britain fell apart, this would lead to a nationalist wave that would destabilize a number of European countries in the years to come," said Sobotka in the light of the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine.
The Scottish independence referendum officially started early on Thursday morning, with more than four million voters across Scotland going to the poll stations. The final overall result reported on Friday morning showed that some 55 percent voters reject independence.
