In the night of 20 to 21 October, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was in pessimistic mood as to the possibility of finding a solution to the ratification of the association agreement with Ukraine. On 6 April this year, the Dutch voted in a consultative referendum against the EU-Ukraine association agreement and the Netherlands is now the only EU member state that has not yet ratified the agreement (see EUROPE 11632).
After the first day of the European Council, the prime minister told the...