Scottish referendum: 'No' vote makes headlines across the globe

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Scotland's referendum on independence has been making headline news across the world.

The "No" camp's victory is being cheered in countries concerned about the future of the United Kingdom - as well as those with independence-minded regions of their own.

But many also think the strong showing for the "Yes" vote means much will change in the United Kingdom, and there is some wariness over its implications.

"Britain stays great!" says the front page headline on the website of Germany's biggest newspaper, Bild.

In the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Stefan Kornelius praises the "No" vote as a "good decision", arguing the problems of the modern world cannot be solved with new borders. "Segregation and withdrawing into your little allotment may give citizens a feeling of certainty in a confusing world, but this world demands of its highly interconnected and interdependent states less segregation and a better division of labour," he says.

Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, writing in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, believes the result will give Scots the "best of both worlds" - a vote for change and more federalism, without "reducing the United Kingdom to dwarf status on the European and international stage".

The London correspondent for the French daily Le Monde, Eric Albert, also thinks change is inevitable.

"Despite the victory of the 'no' with 55.42% of the vote, the Scottish nation will move away from the rest of the United Kingdom", he writes.

Fabio Cavalera, reporting for Italy's Corriere Della Sera from Edinburgh, agrees. "Secession is averted, but the balance of power will undergo a profound change. There will be another United Kingdom," he says.

"Now there comes the British nightmare. It will be difficult to sleep in the same bed," says a pessimistic headline on the Czech iDNES news website.

Prime Minister David Cameron has "a huge responsibility" to carry out reforms, says Dominique Minten of the Belgian daily De Standaard. "The big question is how that is to happen," he adds.

In Spain, where there has been enthusiastic support for a referendum on independence in Catalonia, the Conservative daily ABC's headline reads: "The United Kingdom overcomes the Referendum."

Jose Ignacio Torreblanca, in Madrid's El Pais, says he believes the "No" vote won because it "got its act together" in the last two weeks and sent out a more coherent message, in large part due to the role played by the former prime minister, Gordon Brown.

But the Barcelona-based pro-Catalan independence paper, El Punt Avui, strikes a different chord, arguing that Scotland is now a completely different and more empowered country. It adds that the Scottish nationalists now have more leverage to gain more power from Westminster.

The referendum has garnered headlines in Romania for weeks, as the country's Hungarian minority in Transylvania has also been debating the issue of autonomy.

Such is the interest that one of the country's main newspapers, Adevarul, ran a Live News page on the Scottish vote - following every twist and turn in the count and the reaction to the result.

In Russia, where state media have emphasised the potential headache a vote for independence would give Westminster, some comments on the result are tinged with regret, but insist that Scotland's drive for independence is not over.

"The separation process has already been launched and experts say it cannot be stopped," Olga Solomatina comments for state news agency RIA Novosti. "If they have not got enough determination now - they will have plenty of it tomorrow."

The tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda agrees. "It looks like the Scottish genie, having been released from a narrow British bottle, cannot not be pushed back in again," Galina Sapozhnikova says.

In Ukraine, MP Oleksandr Bryhynets has a unique take on the reason for the "No" vote.

"It's all because of Ukraine: thanks to our bitter fight against Putin, separatism is not popular in the EU. Several percentage points of those who were not decided did not vote YES because the whole of Europe has seen what sort of thing separatism is," he writes on Facebook.

In China, where disputed areas like Tibet and Xinjiang are sensitive issues, general sentiment from Chinese media is that it is a good thing Scotland is still part of the UK.

Social media opinion is widely praising the UK as a "civilised" country over the way the debate has been handled.

But commentators in the state-controlled press predict further constitutional upheaval for the United Kingdom - and blame the London government's handling of the referendum.

"When Scotland gains more power through devolution, it will prompt England, Wales and Northern Ireland to follow its example and ask London for more power," an article in The Beijing Times says.

Pundit Tian Dewen agrees, telling The Beijing News that the British establishment's attempt to sway voters by promising further powers for Scotland is "not smart".

"The situation in the UK has become one of 'you will not get fed unless you cry'," he says.

"Even after the UK has narrowly escaped disaster this time, pro-independence movements around the UK will still receive a boost."

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook