Here is a video of Petro Poroshenko's response to the Dutch referendum result:
Poroshenko Reacts To Rejection Of EU-Ukraine Pact By Dutch Voters
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said his country will continue to forge closer ties with the European Union despite the rejection of an association agreement by Dutch voters in a nonbinding referendum. (Reuters)
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with the news that Dutch voters have said no to an association agreement with Ukraine:
Dutch Voters Reject European Union Pact With Ukraine
The Dutch government says it may have to reconsider ratifying a treaty establishing closer European Union ties with Ukraine after a strong majority of voters rejected an association agreement in a nonbinding referendum.
Dutch broadcasters NOS and RTL reported that turnout for the referendum among the Netherlands' 13 million voters was 32.2 percent -- above the 30 percent minimum level that makes the vote valid -- with all of the votes having been counted and reported by municipalities to the national news agency ANP's election service.
Official results will not be known until April 12. The preliminary results show that among those who voted, 61.1 percent rejected the pact with Ukraine and 38.1 percent supported it, according to the ANP count.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko remained upbeat despite the setback.
"We will continue our movement towards the European Union," Poroshenko told reporters in Tokyo on April 7.
Poroshenko downplayed the importance of the referendum but said Ukraine should "take it into consideration."
"It's clear that 'No' have won by an overwhelming margin, the question is only if turnout is sufficient," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a televised reaction.
"If the turnout is above 30 percent, with such a large margin of victory for the 'No' camp, you can't just go ahead and ratify the treaty."
That sentiment was shared by Diederik Samsom, leader of the Labor Party, the junior partner in the governing coalition. "We can't ratify the treaty in this fashion," he said.
Anti-EU activists who pushed for the referendum declared victory.
"It looks like the Dutch people said NO to the European elite and NO to the treaty with Ukraine," tweeted popular anti-EU lawmaker Geert Wilders. "The beginning of the end of the EU."
Wilders said the Dutch referendum could act as an incentive for British voters to reject the EU in a referendum scheduled for 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.
The vote highlighted a deep-rooted skepticism about the Netherlands' place in Europe and the EU's expansion to the east, incorporating ex-Soviet states and allies in recent years.
Exactly what will happen to the agreement with Ukraine now remains unclear.
The deal has already been ratified by 27 other EU states, and was being provisionally implemented even in the Netherlands after being approved last year by both houses of Parliament.
ALSO READ: What Now For Ukraine's EU Association Agreement?
Rutte said he would not be rushed into stopping implementation. He said he will discuss the voting results with his Cabinet, the EU, and the Dutch parliament before deciding what to do -- a process he said could take "days if not weeks."
For the EU, options for dealing with the Dutch vote include leaving the agreement with Ukraine in force provisionally, or drafting exemption clauses for the Netherlands in the agreement.
The rejection deals a harsh blow to Ukraine at a time when its shaky government already faces a political crisis.
It also builds on the turbulent history of such pro-EU efforts in Ukraine, as it was former president Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign such an agreement in late 2013 that led to violent street protests and his eventual ouster.
Yanukovych's downfall in turn led to Russia's annexation of Crimea, and a drawn-out conflict with Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that continues to dominate Ukraine's economic and political life.
The Kremlin is sure to celebrate the “no” vote, which is likely to at least slow Ukraine's march toward closer ties with the EU.
Dutch opponents of the pact with Ukraine said the bloc shouldn't be dealing with Ukraine's leadership because of widespread corruption in the country.
Just this week, leaked documents revealed Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko moved his candy business that made him wealthy into an offshore holding company in 2014, possibly depriving the country of millions of dollars in tax revenues. Poroshenko says the move was necessary to put his assets into a blind trust when he took office.
Dutch supporters of the Ukraine deal argued it would provide the EU with the benefit of increased trade and stability while helping Ukraine in its battle against corruption and efforts to improve human rights.
Ukrainie's ambassador to the Netherlands, Oleksandr Horin, called the agreement a "plan for reforms which Ukraine has to execute in order to become a really civilized, liberal democracy with a socially-oriented market economy."
Because it strengthens the hand of anti-EU forces, the vote will reverberate well beyond Ukraine. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had warned earlier this year that a "No" vote "would open the door to a great continental crisis."
With reporting by AP, Reuters, dpa, AFP, and TASS
This ends our live blogging for April 6. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.