Ukraine Urges Netherlands to Make 'Responsible' Decision on EU Association

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urged the Netherlands to make a responsible decision on Ukraine's association agreement with the European Union, the presidential press service said in a statement Saturday.

KIEV (Sputnik) — Poroshenko had a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the ongoing NATO summit in Warsaw.

"The Head of State urged the Dutch party to approve responsible decision on the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. The President believes that the Prime Minister of the Netherlands will also facilitate the acceleration of the adoption of the decision on the introduction of the visa-free regime for Ukrainians," the statement read.

In 2014, the European Union signed an agreement with Ukraine to deepen political association and economic integration. Ukraine has to implement a series of political and economic reforms to gain free-trade access to the EU market.

In April 2016, Dutch voters rejected the parliamentary decision to ratify the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement in a non-binding, advisory referendum.

In late June, Rutte said that the Netherlands did not rule out changes in the text of the EU-Ukraine agreement for its ratification, and that the European Union should provide "legally binding" assurances to address the concerns of the Dutch people who voted against the association deal ratification.