Mark Rutte’s government should ratify Ukraine’s association treaty with the EU despite the “no” vote in this year’s referendum, according to its main advisory body on foreign affairs, according to DutchNews.
The Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) said a rejection of the treaty could damage the Netherlands’ standing and European unity, pointing out that the referendum on April 6 was advisory and not binding, DutchNews reports. Failure to ratify the treaty would “probably be seen by Russia’s president Putin as a sign of weakness by Europe,” the AIV wrote in its official advice.
