The referendum on the EU-Ukraine Association agreement in the Netherlands is not just about the agreement itself between the two governments, but more of the mood to the events occurring in the European Union, Russian Ambassador to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said.
“We understand quite well that this was a referendum not only on the association of the European Union and Ukraine, but also on the mood of what is happening in the European Union. This point of view is also held by many experts and political scientists who are following the development of this story,” Chizhov told RIA Novosti in an interview.
The results of the EU-Ukraine Association agreement referendum in the Netherlands may have a great influence on the situation in Great Britain on their upcoming Brexit referendum, Vladimir Chizhov said.
“It could be assumed that the results of the vote will have a great influence on the situation in Great Britain with its own upcoming referendum on the well-known topic [Brexit],” Chizhov told RIA Novosti in an interview.
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 member state yet to ratify the agreement.