Netherlands rejects EU-Ukraine partnership
Dutch referendum seen as a wider test of anti-European sentiment in run-up to UK vote in June

Voters in the Netherlands have rejected in a referendum an EU partnership deal with Ukraine.
At 32.2 per cent, the turnout was low but above the 30 per cent threshold for the vote to be valid. Just 38.1 per cent of voters were in favour of a deal with Ukraine, while 61.1 per cent rejected it.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said his government may have to reconsider the deal, which has been ratified by all the other 27 member states of the European Union.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Although the non-binding vote is technically a referendum on removing trade barriers with Ukraine, it is being seen as a wider test of anti-EU sentiment.
Even the referendum's Eurosceptic organisers admitted it was not essentially about Ukraine but instead was a "handy hook to push a broader anti-EU agenda and 'give citizens more say in Brussels'", says The Guardian.
Despite the low turnout, the outcome could have big repercussions for Europe and the UK.
Whatever voters' motivations, a clear vote against the treaty in the run-up to Britain's EU referendum in June is likely to "escalate into a domestic or even a Europe-wide political crisis", says Reuters.
The EU's decision to push on with the Ukraine treaty regardless of the vote, which has angered some of those opposed to what they see as the arrogance of the Brussels bureaucratic machine, could be "damaging for the EU project by highlighting internal problems ahead of the British vote", says Newsweek.
"If politicians ignore the Dutch 'No' then it will be an even stronger signal than what the British have already received that there is no way to correct the European political class and that they should vote to leave," said No campaigner Thierry Baudet, one of the architects of the Dutch referendum.
Speaking in Amsterdam ahead of the vote, Ukip leader Nigel Farage said that a vote against the treaty would "embolden" those campaigning in the UK to leave the EU and "send a big message to the British electorate that we are not alone in thinking something has fundamentally gone wrong in the direction of the European Union".
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said his country will nevertheless "continue" its movement "towards the EU".
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The fight for control of Ukraine's nuclear reactors
The Explainer How serious is Donald Trump about US ownership of Kyiv's nuclear power plants?
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine goes all out to woo young people into the army
Under The Radar New recruitment drive offers perks as morale and numbers fall
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine's mineral riches and Trump's shakedown diplomacy
The Explainer President's demand for half of Kyiv's resources in return for past military aid amounts to 'mafia blackmail tactics' and 'colonialism'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Munich Security Conference: will spectre of appeasement haunt old world order?
Today's Big Question Trump's talks with Putin threaten the international rules-based order, say critics
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia frees US teacher Marc Fogel in murky 'exchange'
Speed Read He was detained in Moscow for carrying medically prescribed marijuana
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published