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, and with all votes counted it was clear that the threshold of 30 percent voter turnout would be met and the result would be valid.
The turnout was at 32.2 percent, broadcasters NOS and RTL reported after all votes were counted and reported by municipalities to national news agency ANP’s election service.
The sentiment among those in the nation of 17 million who voted was crystal clear: According to the ANP count, 61.1 percent rejected the EU-Ukraine pact and 38.1 percent voted for it. The remaining votes were blank or spoiled.
‘‘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.
The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union, a trading nation that benefits from its internal market but paradoxically also a hotbed of Euro-skepticism that rejected the bloc’s proposed constitution in a 2005 referendum.
Exactly what will happen to the agreement now is 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 such as 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.
Associated Press
