The only fact that can be drawn from this is that 2/3rds of those who could be bothered to vote, voted No association and the remaining 1/3rd voted for it, and I could as easily say that 2/3rds of those who didn’t vote would have voted against the Government so overall 2/3rds of the eligible electorate in Holland don’t agree with EU-Ukraine association, anuthing else is pure speculation

”The political weight of this referendum could also be called into doubt if we consider that it was a one-sided national referendum on an EU-wide foreign policy matter. In the end, less than 1 per cent of the total population of the EU voted against a treaty that concerns the Union as a whole. In this sense, this referendum differs from the UK’s EU referendum, in which the consequences of the vote will primarily be borne by the British themselves.”

The rest of the EU member states failed to hold a referendum whereas a democratic Holland did is the only conclusion that can be drawn here. This says more about the external control over nation states than any abrogation of democracy. That the Dutch stood up and were counted should be a matter for adulation not condemnation in my view.

Your point regarding the incidental victimhood of the Ukraine in an exercise of Euro-scepticism in not well made … I remember Czechoslovakia and the Prague Spring 1968 under Alexander Dubcek, who had the temerity to challenge the Soviets and before that the Hungarian uprising 1956 … put brutally put down. If I were to say that ”These brave Dutch voters had, and took the chance, to ensure that no further provocation of the Russian ‘Bear’ was idly assumed by the current leadership of the EU” It would be as valid as the argument you appear to be forwarding.