text: Most Dutch against closer EU ties with Ukraine ahead of Wednesday referendum — RT World News
  5 Apr, 2016 09:21
  Demonstrators call for people to vote no in the EU referendum during a protest at Dam Square in Amsterdam, the Netherlands April 3, 2016. The banners read: "Referendum April 6. No is 3 times better", and the big letters collectively read "No". © Cris Toala Olivares © Reuters
  Hoe dit raadgevend #referendum gegarandeerd zorgt voor minder vertrouwen in de politiek. "De kater komt eraan". https://t.co/tCSpQrhwaE
  — Maurice de Hond (@mauricedehond) April 3, 2016
  "If Ukraine does become part of this member association, it is just one step closer to becoming part of the EU. What you get with the visa-free element of things is you are going to get people coming over here, which is going to put more stress on the Dutch economy and more handouts that are going to be paid," activist Daniel Klop told RT.
  "Have you ever been asked what you think of such an expansion of the EU?" asked the website at the time, noting this is one of the major gripes amongst the Dutch population. The public believes the Dutch state should consult them on any further discussions concerning the EU.
  The proposed treaty also proposes a number of chapters concerning defense and security agreements. Harry van Bommel, an MP from Socialist Party, who is campaigning for a 'No' vote, says it would not be wise to include Ukraine in such an agreement given the current state of affairs in the country.
  Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called the association agreement the "first step towards EU membership." However, according to French diplomat Pierre Vimont, who helped to negotiate the deal between Kiev and the EU, five countries in the bloc remain firmly against Ukraine ever joining the union
  Germany, France, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands all rejected the idea of Ukraine's potential EU membership during the five-year negotiation period in 2008-2012, Vimont told the Volkskrant newspaper.
  Vimont said that France and the Netherlands are skeptical about Ukraine's prospects within the EU as both countries are "fed up with expansion," noting that both states also rejected the EU constitution in referendums in 2005.
  In March, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Ukraine should never become a member of the EU, while also stressing that "in the long term" Ukraine should develop good and stable relations with Russia.
  If the 'No' vote does triumph in Wednesday's referendum, the Dutch government would not be forced to veto the legislation. However, with the Netherlands currently holding the EU presidency and elections due to take place in less than a year, it would put pressure on Rutte and his coalition not to go against the will of the people.
  Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin believes that the Dutch public has the wrong idea about the association agreement, such as the EU becoming swamped with Ukrainians.
  'Kill! Kill! Kill!': LGBT activists hunted by Nazi-saluting nationalists in Lvov https://t.co/aUgLmRF2y6pic.twitter.com/39D5gzlbZu
  "I never thought that this would be such a controversial issue," he said, speaking to Volkskrant. "The European Union is an example for us when it comes to democracy, human rights and the rule of law."
  Klimkin talked about how Ukraine has made progress in areas such as LGBT rights, although he did not mention a recent incident in the western Ukrainian city of Lvov, where a neo-Nazi mob attacked an LGBT gathering.