KIEV dismissed on Wednesday night Dutch voters’ rejection of Ukraine’s relationship to the European Union.

Sixty-one per cent of voters in a Dutch referendum said No to an EU association agreement with the Ukrainian government — seen by Kiev as a major step toward full membership.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said before the vote that he would be forced to veto the Ukrainian agreement after a strong No vote, but turnout was only 32.2 per cent, only just above the 30 per cent validity threshold.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, on a trip to Japan, insisted: “We will continue our movement towards the European Union.”

Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, who has been key to negotiations with Brussels, claimed “nothing had changed” and that “European integration of Ukraine cannot be stopped.”

But Opposition Bloc party MP Aleksander Vilkul called the result “a cold shower for the Ukrainian politicians who believe that loud shouting and wild hopping is more important than efficient work … [and] think that no one will notice excessive corruption.”

Dutch Socialist MP Harry van Bommel warned that signing the agreement would only funnel EU money into the pockets of corrupt Ukrainian politicians and businessmen.

“Corruption in Ukraine is systemic,” said. “It permeates the entire structure, from the lowest to the highest ranks.”

Mr Van Bommel said the agreement would be particularly unwise as it contained provisions on security, foreign policy and defence.

Following years of EU-provoked instability, Dutch reticence to welcome Kiev into the bloc is not unexpected.

Nearly 10,000 people have been killed in the civil war that erupted following the 2014 coup against president Viktor Yanukovych and frequent breaches of the ceasefire continue.

Many politicians, including Mr Poroshenko, have demanded Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s resignation and the president’s own Petro Poroshenko Bloc-Solidarity is now also on shaky ground.

Oligarch Mr Poroshenko has been mired in scandal this week after the Panama Papers showed he transferred ownership of his Roshen confectionary empire to a shell company in the British Virgin Islands under the guise of putting it in trust following his election.

Kiev’s claim to democracy appeared tattered yesterday as the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU), which Kiev banned after the coup, appeared in court yesterday to appeal against the decision.