Some 57% of the Dutch who are planning to vote on next month’s referendum on the EU’s treaty with Ukraine will vote ‘no’, according to a poll of 2,500 people for the Volkskrant.

The motive for voting no is also becoming clearer, the poll, carried out by I&O Research showed. ‘No’ voters are convinced the treaty is the first stage to admitting Ukraine to the EU, which they oppose, the Volkskrant said.

‘It is becoming increasingly more difficult to convince people that this is not the case,’ researcher Peter Kanne told the paper. Almost three quarters of the ‘no’ voters believe the treaty is a precursor to EU membership.

If turnout is less than 30% the government does not have to take the referendum into account, whatever the outcome. The Dutch parliament has already voted in favour of the treaty and the referendum only has an advisory role.