Dutch voters deliver ‘humiliating rejection’ to EU referendum, with result hailed by ‘Brexit’ camp

Dutch voters have rejected a treaty between the European Union and Ukraine by a margin of nearly two to one, in a referendum that exposed the extent of anti-EU sentiment in one of the bloc’s founding members.

British campaigners to leave the EU hailed the news from the Netherlands, as did the leader of France’s National Front, Marine Le Pen. About 61 per cent voted against the so-called association agreement Wednesday, with virtually all the results declared. The turnout was about 32 per cent, clearing the 30 per cent threshold needed to declare the vote valid.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte pledged to respect the result and said in a statement that a ratification of the treaty “cannot simply proceed.” His cabinet will consider the result with its EU partners and Ukraine carefully, he said, adding that it will probably take weeks to do so. Technically, the referendum is not binding.

The ballot in one of the EU’s six founding member states is another blow to the bloc as it grapples with a refugee crisis, security challenges and economic stagnation that has triggered a surge in support for populist parties, including the Dutch Freedom Party led by Geert Wilders. It comes just over two months before the UK votes in a referendum on whether to leave the EU - a so-called Brexit.

“The Dutch result is a stunning condemnation of the European Union’s willingness to extend its borders,” a spokesman for the British Leave EU campaign group, Brian Monteith, said in an e-mailed statement. “This humiliating rejection of the Ukraine agreement demonstrates that people don’t have to support the EU and its expansionist agenda to feel European.” 

Wilders hailed the result as “fantastic,“ and Le Pen congratulated him on Twitter, saying the result is another “step away” from the EU.