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Dutch to hold protest referendum on EU-Ukraine ties: vote body

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch satirical website has collected enough signatures to call a national referendum on a European pact with Ukraine, authorities said on Wednesday, a poll organized as a protest against the government's pro-EU stance. The vote would not be binding on the Dutch government, which has already ratified the association agreement for closer trade and other ties between the EU and Ukraine. But the website GeenStijl's call for the vote underlines falling support for the bloc among some Dutch voters. Concerns over immigration have boosted the anti-EU Freedom Party of right-wing populist Geert Wilders. GeenStijl, known for its irreverent and raucous takes on divisive subjects from Islam to immigration, has said it picked the Ukraine deal almost as random - as just one of many examples of an EU agreement that had passed into Dutch law. The Dutch Electoral Council said the website had collected 420,000 signatures, more than the 300,000 needed to trigger a referendum. It largely confirmed a report from GeenStijl last month that it had gathered 440,000 names. The vote, though symbolic, will take place in a highly-charged atmosphere in a country that lost 193 citizens in the missile strike on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over rebel-held territory in east Ukraine in July 2014. The referendum will take place in the next six months, said the electoral council. The vote's wording has not been released. (Reporting By Anthony Deutsch)