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| Low turnout endangers Dutch vote on EU-Ukraine pact | Low turnout endangers Dutch vote on EU-Ukraine pact |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A clear majority of people who voted Wednesday in a Dutch referendum rejected a far-reaching European Union free trade deal with Ukraine, but an exit poll showed turnout may have been too low for the vote to be valid. | THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A clear majority of people who voted Wednesday in a Dutch referendum rejected a far-reaching European Union free trade deal with Ukraine, but an exit poll showed turnout may have been too low for the vote to be valid. |
| According to the exit poll conducted by Ipsos for national broadcaster NOS, turnout was 32 percent. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percent for the turnout, which would need to reach 30 percent for the vote to be valid. The poll was taken at 40 polling stations where around 80,000 voters were registered. | According to the exit poll conducted by Ipsos for national broadcaster NOS, turnout was 32 percent. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percent for the turnout, which would need to reach 30 percent for the vote to be valid. The poll was taken at 40 polling stations where around 80,000 voters were registered. |
| While it was unclear if the referendum would be valid, the sentiment among those in the nation of 17 million who voted was clear: 64 percent were against the pact and 36 percent in favor. The exit poll had a 5 percent margin of error for the result. | While it was unclear if the referendum would be valid, the sentiment among those in the nation of 17 million who voted was clear: 64 percent were against the pact and 36 percent in favor. The exit poll had a 5 percent margin of error for the result. |
| “It looks like the Dutch people said NO to the European elite and NO to the treaty with the Ukraine,” tweeted popular anti-Islam, anti-EU lawmaker Geert Wilders. “The beginning of the end of the EU.” | |
| As expected, the vote underscored a deep-rooted skepticism about this country’s place in Europe. The non-binding Dutch vote came less than three months before British citizens decide in their own referendum whether to leave the EU altogether. | As expected, the vote underscored a deep-rooted skepticism about this country’s place in Europe. The non-binding Dutch vote came less than three months before British citizens decide in their own referendum whether to leave the EU altogether. |
| The Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, a trading nation that benefits from its internal market, but paradoxically also a hotbed of Euroskepticism that rejected the bloc’s proposed constitution in a 2005 referendum. | The Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, a trading nation that benefits from its internal market, but paradoxically also a hotbed of Euroskepticism that rejected the bloc’s proposed constitution in a 2005 referendum. |
| Exactly what will happen to the agreement if the vote is declared valid remains unclear. | |
| But in a first reaction, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: “If the turnout is above 30 percent, with such a big victory for the ‘No’ camp, you can’t just go ahead and ratify the treaty.” | |
| However, Rutte said he would not be rushed into action, saying he wanted to discuss the result in his Cabinet, at the European Union and in the Dutch Parliament, a process that could take “days if not weeks.” | |
| The referendum was the first in the Netherlands since the 2005 rejection of the EU constitution and was forced by a loose coalition of Euro-skeptics that managed to gather nearly 430,000 signatures in just six weeks last year. Most often, deals like this are ratified by the governments of the 28 EU members, without any referendums. | The referendum was the first in the Netherlands since the 2005 rejection of the EU constitution and was forced by a loose coalition of Euro-skeptics that managed to gather nearly 430,000 signatures in just six weeks last year. Most often, deals like this are ratified by the governments of the 28 EU members, without any referendums. |
| Wilders said he hoped the vote would give hope to other nations questioning their place in Europe. | |
| After casting his ballot at a school on the outskirts of The Hague, Wilders said the Dutch referendum could act as an incentive to British voters to reject the EU in June. “So it could be today that it is the start of the end of the European Union as we know it today and that would be very good,” he said. | After casting his ballot at a school on the outskirts of The Hague, Wilders said the Dutch referendum could act as an incentive to British voters to reject the EU in June. “So it could be today that it is the start of the end of the European Union as we know it today and that would be very good,” he said. |
| Dutch opponents of the EU-Ukraine association agreement argued that its ultimate goal is bringing Kiev into the EU and argued the bloc shouldn’t be dealing with Ukraine’s leadership because of the widespread corruption in the country. President Petro Poroshenko, a candy magnate who won elections in 2014, has been accused, following the leak of millions of records on offshore accounts, of abusing his office and of tax evasion by moving his business offshore, possibly depriving the country of millions of dollars in taxes. | |
| Poroshenko’s rise to power began after Ukrainians rose up against their government in February 2014 because of then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s refusal to sign the association agreement. | Poroshenko’s rise to power began after Ukrainians rose up against their government in February 2014 because of then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s refusal to sign the association agreement. |
| Supporters of the deal said it is not a membership stepping stone and would boost trade and help battle corruption and improve human rights in the former Soviet republic on Europe’s restive eastern edge. They also say it is important for the EU to implement such agreements to boost stability at its borders. | |
| “It’s about solidarity with a country which wants to develop itself,” Rutte said after voting. “I would like for Ukraine to have both a stable relationship with Europe and with Russia.” | |
| Much of the deal between the EU and Ukraine, already ratified by the other 27 member states, is being provisionally implemented but the Netherlands’ ratification, approved last year by both houses of Parliament, was put on ice pending the outcome of the referendum. | Much of the deal between the EU and Ukraine, already ratified by the other 27 member states, is being provisionally implemented but the Netherlands’ ratification, approved last year by both houses of Parliament, was put on ice pending the outcome of the referendum. |
| In an interview earlier this year with a Dutch newspaper, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned that a “No” vote “would open the door to a great continental crisis.” | In an interview earlier this year with a Dutch newspaper, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned that a “No” vote “would open the door to a great continental crisis.” |
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| Associated Press writer Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed. | Associated Press writer Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed. |
| Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |