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Dutch MPs approve ESM treaty

24 May 2012 19:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Dutch MPs voted by a wide majority on Thursday to ratify a permanent bailout fund which is part of an EU fiscal stability pact, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), said local media, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

After three days of debate, MPs voted by 100 to 47 in favour of the ESM, as the conservative VVD, the Christian democratic CDA, the Labor Party, the democrat party D66 and the Green Left party all backed it while the Freedom Party (PVV), the Socialists, ChristenUnie, and other minor parties voted against it.

Geert Wilders, leader of the PVV, initiated a lawsuit on Tuesday aimed at postponing the Dutch parliament’s ratification of the ESM until after the national vote on Sep. 12.

The Netherlands will put 4.5 billion euros (5.63 billion U.S. dollars) in the fund and will guarantee a further 35 billion euros (43.75 billion dollars) for the fund’s total lending capacity of 500 billion euros (625 billion dollars).