They want to exclude from the Association Agreement the paragraph on cooperation in defense sphere, RBC-Ukraine reports.
The government of the Netherlands intends to reconsider some paragraphs of Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, in particular, to exclude the paragraph on cooperation in defense sphere, Austrian edition Die Press, reports.
The edition notes that the reconsideration of Ukraine-EU AA is discussed behind the scenes in Netherlands, however as this state presides over in the European Union, there’s possibility to attempt to introduce amendments to the Agreement, ratified by EU countries. The Netherlandish side reportedly intends to exclude the paragraph on cooperation in defense sphere or to somehow soften it, motivating his position by the fact that EU tasks do not include the guarantee of security of Europe or Ukraine,
The Netherlands is also against the provision to Ukraine of automatic access to financial resources of the European Union. It is reported that for amending Ukraine-EU AA the Netherlands need to reach agreement of all EU countries, which ratified the agreement, however Poland and Baltic states speak out against.
Die Presse notes that this initiative will unlikely be realized prior to referendum on Britain’s exit from EU.