Brussels threatens to withdraw funds from the Venice Biennale if it doesn’t cancel Russia’s participation | Culture | EUROtoday

The European Commission has “strongly condemned” the choice of these chargeable for the Venice Biennale to permit Russia to reopen its nationwide pavilion within the subsequent version of the famend Italian cultural occasion and threatens to withdraw European subsidies to the challenge if the invitation to the nation internationally sanctioned for its struggle in opposition to Ukraine will not be revoked, underneath the argument that “culture should never be used as a platform for propaganda.”

The determination of the Fondazione Biennale to authorize Russia to return to the 61st version of the Venice Biennale, which can be held from May 9 to November 22, 2026, “is not compatible with the EU’s collective response to Russia’s brutal aggression,” underlines in a harsh joint assertion the vice-president of the Commission for Digital Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, and the commissioner for Culture, Youth and Sports, Glenn Micallef.

According to the 2 senior officers of the European Executive, tradition serves to “promote and safeguard democratic values, encourage open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression.” For this purpose, they emphasize, “it should never be used as a platform for propaganda.”

Furthermore, each EU Member States, establishments and organizations “must act in accordance with EU sanctions and avoid giving voice to people who have actively supported or justified the Kremlin’s aggression against Ukraine,” they underline within the assertion.

“European scenarios must reflect European values,” Micallef insists in a message on X the place he has unfold the warning from Brussels.

According to the commissioners, Brussels doesn’t intend to sit down idly: “If the Fondazione Biennale goes ahead with its decision to allow Russia’s participation, we will consider other measures, including the suspension or termination of an EU grant to the Biennale Foundation currently in progress,” they warn.

According to the Biennale program, Russia will take part with the challenge “The tree is rooted in the sky”, commissioned by Anastasiia Karneeva. Ukraine has additionally protested the Russian presence in “one of the most prestigious artistic platforms in the world.” Precisely for that reason, the Ukrainian ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs denounced final Sunday, the Biennale “must not become a stage to cover up the war crimes that Russia commits daily against the Ukrainian people and our cultural heritage.”

As he recalled in a message on Four years later, “we find it incomprehensible that this position is changing now, when Russia refuses to stop the war, rejects peace efforts and dialogue, and instead continues to resort to terror and atrocities,” kyiv stated.

It will not be the primary time this 12 months {that a} huge occasion held in Italy has acquired a wake-up name as a result of Russian presence, though up to now with few outcomes: Commissioner Micallef boycotted the current opening of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games, in protest on the readmission of athletes from Russia and Belarus underneath their nationwide flags, one thing he described as “unacceptable.”