"The whole treaty is now off the table. That is the will of the Dutch people… The treaty should now belong to the dustbin of history. The Netherlands cannot ratify it, so the treaty should be dead. That is what our government has to tell the EU," Geert Wilders said, commenting on the outcome that he called "positive".
The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement was signed in 2014. The Dutch government decided to hold a non-binding referendum after over 400,000 people signed a petition to put the matter to a nationwide vote.
"It shows that the Dutch people do not want a small elite making decisions the people don't agree with. Brussels and The Hague have been corrected by the people. That is fantastic," the politician added expressing hope that the Dutch referendum would "also affect the coming Brexit referendum in the UK."
Following the announcement of the results the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte admitted that ratification of the treaty could “not go ahead unconditionally”. His government will now study the results while the local parliament, according to Wilders, will debate the outcome next week.
