Netherlands Ratifies EU-Ukraine Association Agreement

Ukraine made another step towards integration with the European Union.

The upper house of the Dutch parliament ratified Ukraine's bid on EU association.

"Today the Dutch Senate voted on the ratification of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The Dutch Senate approved the document," the Ukrainian Embassy in the Netherlands said.

Парламент Нідерландів завершив процедуру ратифікації Угоди про асоціацію між Україною та ЄС!-----Сьогодні у Сенаті Нід…

Posted by Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of the Netherlands on Tuesday, 7 July 2015

In late June France's National Assembly made the same step. To date, 21 out of 28 EU countries have ratified the agreement.

Kiev signed the EU Association Agreement on June 27, 2014. The part of the document regarding free trade will be enacted in January 2016.

For the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement to become fully valid, all of the bloc's 28 members and the European Parliament have to ratify it. 

Kiev expects that the remaining EU countries will have completed the process by 2016.

The Dutch Senate also ratified the EU-Georgia Association Agreement.

The EU Association Agreement is a treaty between the bloc and a non-EU country that provides for integration and touches upon the development of political, cultural, trade, security and social ties.