Netherlands rejects EU, Ukraine pact in referendum

Amsterdam

DUTCH voters rejected a treaty between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine by a resounding margin, in a referendum that exposed the extent of anti-EU sentiment in one of the bloc's founding members.

British campaigners to leave the bloc hailed the news from the Netherlands, as did the leader of France's anti-EU National Front, Marine Le Pen, and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. About 61 per cent voted against the so-called association agreement on Wednesday and turnout was about 32 per cent, clearing the 30 per cent threshold needed to declare the vote valid.