Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called the preliminary results of the referendum on the association of the EU and Ukraine in the Netherlands “an indicator of the attitude of Europeans towards the Ukrainian political system”

Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev (Photo: Ekaterina Shtukina/TASS Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev)

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called the results of the referendum in the Netherlands on the association of Ukraine with the EU “an indicator of the attitude of Europeans towards the Ukrainian political system.” He wrote about this on his Twitter .

The day before, a referendum was held in the Netherlands on the ratification of the association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine . According to preliminary data provided by NOS TV channel, 61.1% of those who came to the polling stations voted against, and just over 38% voted in favor. The 30% turnout threshold at which the referendum can be considered valid was overcome: 32.2% of voters, or more than 4 million people, came to the polling stations. The official results of the voting will be announced by the country's authorities on April 12.

The press service of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko previously commented on the preliminary results of the referendum by releasing a statement. It points out that the real goal of the organizers of the vote in the Netherlands was an attack on European unity and the spread of European values. At the same time, the statement emphasizes that the vote was advisory in nature, and the final word remains with the government and parliament of the Netherlands.

“I am confident that strategically this event is not an obstacle to Ukraine’s path to Europe,” the press service said. Poroshenko promised that his country would continue to implement the Association Agreement, calling the document a path to modernizing the Ukrainian state and strengthening its independence.

Holding a referendum in the Netherlands became possible after the adoption of new legislation in 2015, according to which a petition for a vote that has collected 300 thousand or more signatures is accepted as an application for a national referendum. The vote in the Netherlands was initiated by the Eurosceptic activist group Geenpeil, which collected the required number of signatures in October 2015.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte advocated the ratification of the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU, while opposition forces spoke out against it. At the same time, Rutte said the day before that the results of the referendum on the ratification of the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU may lead to the fact that the country's government will have to reconsider its position on this issue.

The Financial Times previously noted that the referendum decision is not binding, but the Dutch authorities will be forced to take the will of the kingdom’s citizens into account. The ruling coalition of right-wing Liberals and Labor has a majority of just one vote in parliament. At the same time, elections will be held in the Netherlands no later than March 2017, and in these conditions the government refused to accept any side on the issue of the treaty with Ukraine, fearing electoral losses.

Medvedev called the referendum in the Netherlands an indicator of attitude towards Ukraine