The Netherlands demands guarantees from the EU and threatens to torpedo the association agreement with Ukraine

The Netherlands has threatened to “sink” the trade and security agreement between Ukraine and the EU if legally binding guarantees are not received at the summit of European leaders next week.

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The Financial Times writes about this.

In an interview with the publication, the head of the Dutch government, Mark Rutte, explained his demands for a decision signed by the heads of government of the EU countries, making it clear that the Association Agreement “will not create guarantees of protection for Ukraine or be a step towards its eventual membership in the bloc.” .

“If we don’t get this, the next day we will introduce a law into parliament stating that we will not ratify the Association Agreement,” Rutte said.

Senior EU officials are working on a legal compromise to unblock the agreement with Ukraine. “There has to be a legal obligation. Otherwise, I don’t want to go back to parliament with this,” Rutte stressed.

As noted, the Dutch prime minister made it clear that he did not ask the Dutch to deviate from the Ukrainian agreement. “I'm asking a lot. But I am not asking for re-ratification,” he added.

Any compromise reached by EU leaders may still not find support in the Netherlands. The Rutte government does not have a majority in the Senate that can oppose the deal between Brussels and The Hague, the publication writes.

At the same time, Mark Rutte defends his decision to find a compromise. “It would be easy to agree with the results of the referendum. But the reason why I am fighting is that I am absolutely convinced that Europe must now be united against Russian foreign policy,” he added.

We would like to remind you that the referendum held in the country showed a lack of support from citizens for the idea of ​​ratifying the EU Association Agreement with Ukraine. However, the country's authorities ignored the opinion of voters, citing the advisory, rather than binding nature of the survey.