On April 6, in the Netherlands will be held a referendum on Ukraine’s association with the European Union. “And if the majority of the Dutch will vote against it, the ready agreement on Ukraine’s association with the EU could be seriously called into question, because it must be ratified by all the 28 EU member states”, – wrote Helmut Hetzel, a political commentator of Austrian newspaper “Die Presse”. Moreover, the Dutch parliament has already voted against it.
It seems that most citizens of the country will vote against the association, believes the author. According to polls, 57% of Dutch people do not want “The European Union will made Ukraine a privileged partner in the sphere of trade and security”. In addition to this, most of the opponents of the agreement, which are in general also skeptical for the idea of a united Europe, are afraid that “the agreement with Kiev will cost heavy expences for the Dutch taxpayers, lead to a deterioration of relations with Russia, and also could be the first step towards accepting Ukraine into the EU”.
Meanwhile, in the case of approval of the agreement, Ukraine “would have the same status, which is now used by Switzerland and Norway who are not members of the EU” and the EU “would extend the sphere of influence up to Russia’s borders,” the article says.
In the Netherlands, in general, there are “a lot of famous people who are dead set against the association”, recognizes the author of the article. For example, the writer Leon de Winter in the de Telegraaf column has explained his position that “the agreement includes the military component among other things”. “And so it is a provocation against Russia, it is a threat to peace in Europe”, said de Winter.
Scientist Thierry Bode and journalist Jan Roos, who, incidentally, are the main organizers of the upcoming referendum, also reckon that. It is their fund Geenpeil together with popular satirical website Geen Stijl have collected almost 428 thousand signatures in support of the referendum, although 300 thousand would be enough, according to the material.