The Dutch Senate has approved the Treaty on the EU accession of Bulgaria and
Romania late on Tuesday, the country's embassy to Sofia informed.
The decision of the Senate is the final step of the ratification of the key
accord opened by the Lower Chamber of the Parliament.
On February 7 the Dutch House of Representatives passed the text opening the
way for ratification by the Senate.
The ratification reconfirms the strong political commitment of The
Netherlands towards Bulgaria's EU membership on 1 January 2007, a press
statement from the Dutch Embassy said.
The Netherlands has reiterated its strong calls to the country to overcome
the shortcomings indicated by the European Commission in its recent
monitoring report. To that end The Netherlands has indicated its readiness
to intensify its cooperation with Bulgaria in the months to come.
The ratification will be enforced with a decree of the Dutch Queen.
Thus the number of EU states with pending - or still unopened - ratification
of the key accord has cut down to six - Finland, Luxembourg, France,
Belgium, Denmark, and Germany.
To enter into force and let Sofia and Bucharest into the Union, the
Accession Treaty signed April 25, 2005, must be endorsed with completed
ratifications by all EU member states.
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