Dutch Prime Minister Says EU's Ukraine Pact Must Address His Nation's Concerns
29 June 2016 - 2:00AM
Dow Jones News
BRUSSELS—Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte warned Tuesday that he
would sign the European Union's broad trade and political agreement
with Ukraine only if he received legally binding solutions that
address concerns expressed by Dutch voters in an April referendum
on the deal.
Dutch voters rejected the deal in that vote, in a campaign
dominated as much by domestic opposition to the European Union as
specific concerns about Ukraine.
The EU-Ukraine agreement is the centerpiece of European
cooperation with Kiev since pro-Western forces took office in
Ukraine in 2014. The refusal of former Ukrainian President Viktor
Yanukovych to sign the deal sparked the mass protests that
eventually swept him from office in early 2014.
The agreement lowers tariffs across a wide range of goods and
includes various kinds of political and economic cooperation
between the EU and Ukraine.
Mr. Rutte acknowledged it would be hard to find a compromise
that offers solutions to Dutch voters' concerns without ripping up
an agreement that provisionally took full effect Jan. 1. The
agreement has already been ratified by 27 of the 28 EU member
states, Ukraine and the European Parliament.
Mr. Rutte said he didn't have any specific proposal for how the
binding guarantees could be made.
"It could be that we have to change the text, it could be that
you can find a solution which will not involve a change in the text
of the association agreement. I don't know yet," he said. Mr. Rutte
said that if he can't "achieve" legally binding solutions "then we
will not see. That's also clear."
Any change to the text of the agreement could force all other
governments to ratify the deal once again. That could be an opening
for Russia to block the agreement. Russia has fiercely opposed the
pact, saying it would harm its economy and was designed to force
Ukraine to choose between East and West.
Trade ties between Russia and Ukraine have plunged since early
2014, following Russia's annexation of Crimea and fighting in
eastern Ukraine between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists.
Mr. Rutte discussed the issue with other EU leaders at a
Brussels summit Tuesday evening. It is the first proper discussion
of the issue since the Ukraine referendum April 6.
Mr. Rutte acknowledged that if the Dutch government is unable to
sign the so-called Association Agreement with Ukraine, other EU
member states may "in some way or another will continue or
renegotiate something else of which the Netherlands is not
part."
He said he doesn't think either of those are answers the 'no'
camp in the Netherlands was trying to achieve.
While the 'no' vote succeeded, it only just overcame the 30%
threshold needed for the referendum to take effect.
Pools after the vote showed that some 'no' voters opposed the
deal because they thought it could open a pathway for Ukraine to
achieve membership in the EU.
A Dutch refusal to sign the agreement would be a fresh blow to
the government of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Kiev is
already facing a delay in its bid to win visa free access for its
citizens to the bloc because of opposition by some member
states.
Viktoria Dendrinou in Brussels contributed to this article.
Write to Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 28, 2016 20:45 ET (00:45 GMT)
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