The upper house of Dutch Parliament has approved ratification of a pact between the European Union and Ukraine, despite voters in the Netherlands rejecting the so-called Association Agreement in an advisory referendum last year. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement that the vote "sends an important signal from the Netherlands and the entire European Union to our Ukrainian friends: Ukraine's place is in Europe. In 2016, the Netherlands turned out to be the only country which did not ratify the agreement, though it was initially approved by the Dutch Parliament. The agreement, a treaty, had already been negotiated and approved by all European Union governments and by Ukraine in 2014, and had even partially gone into effect pending ratification when it was abruptly rejected by Dutch voters in a snap referendum held in April 2016. In December 2016, during the EU summit in Brussels, the leaders of the member states agreed that the association deal would not stipulate the granting of Ukraine status of a candidate country for joining the union, would not provide Kiev with guarantees of military or financial assistance, or the right of its citizens to reside and work freely within EU territory. Ukraine's future lies with Europe.”

On his Facebook page, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko thanked Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his country for their support, hailing the agreement as "a guarantee of our freedom, independence, and territorial integrity."
The Dutch Senate approves the European Union's Association Agreement with Ukraine, setting the stage for it to be ratified as early as July, pending royal promulgation. The process was previously delayed by a non-binding referendum where a majority of Dutch voters rejected ratification of the agreement.