Dutch parliament sets Nov. 1 deadline for approving EU-Ukraine pact

The Dutch parliament approved a Sept. 22 resolution requiring the government to make a decision on the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement no later than Nov. 1, reported the nos.nl news site. The resolution was supported by both supporters and opponents of the agreement. Currently, no Dutch party in parliament supports the agreement, and those supporting Ukraine have the position that the government should officially inform Brussels about the lack of consensus, the news site reported.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the same evening that he doubts that his government will approve the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, despite the months of talks that followed the April 2016 referendum that rejected it, as reported by the Financial Times. He said he hopes the rest of the 27 EU member-states can somehow approve the agreement without the Netherlands. 

Zenon Zawada: With a single referendum vote, Russian lobbyists accomplished a key victory in undermining Ukraine’s integration with the West. Dutch politicians tried to find a compromise by proposing changes to the agreement, but among its conditions is that it can’t be amended at all. Another condition is that all 28 EU member-states approve it. Given this is a situation with no recent precedent, it’s hard to see what legal detour will be found for what now appears to be a political dead end.