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Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dismisses Importance of Dutch Referendum

© AFP 2023 / Bart Maat / ANP Dutch member of the Socialist Party (SP) Harry van Bommel hands out flyers against a referendum on the association treaty with Ukraine, in The Hague, on April 5, 2016
Dutch member of the Socialist Party (SP) Harry van Bommel hands out flyers against a referendum on the association treaty with Ukraine, in The Hague, on April 5, 2016 - Sputnik International
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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin is certain that the results of the referendum on the EU-Ukraine association agreement held in the Netherlands will not affect the Dutch government’s decision on the treaty.

Demonstrators who support the yes vote of an EU referendum and those who support the no vote protest at the Dam Square in Amsterdam, the Netherlands April 3, 2016 - Sputnik International
Ukrainian Gov't ‘Takes Note’ of Dutch Referendum, Claims It Is Advisory
KIEV (Sputnik) – On Wednesday, 61.1 percent of Dutch voters rejected the EU-Ukraine association deal’s ratification in an advisory referendum, according to preliminary results. A turnout of 32.2 percent passed the 30-percent threshold required for the vote to have legal weight.

"There are clear assurances that the visa-free regime is a completely separate path. And if the European Commission is giving the go-ahead – and a relevant decision within the European Commission has already been prepared, that Ukraine has fulfilled all the requirements on the path to a visa-free regime – then we are moving towards a visa-free regime," Klimkin told Inter TV, Ukraine’s national broadcaster.

The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, establishing a political and economic association between Kiev and Brussels, was signed in 2014. It commits Kiev to implementing vast reforms in order to meet the bloc’s high economic, political, social, legal and technical criteria. It also grants Ukraine expanded access to the EU single market.

The Netherlands is the only EU member state that has not yet ratified the agreement. The Dutch government decided to hold a non-binding referendum after over 400,000 people signed a petition to put the matter to a nationwide vote.

Official referendum results are expected on Tuesday, April 12.

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