The EU threatens to cut off funding for the Venice Biennale if Russia participates

European the commission threatens to cut off the two million euro funding of the Venice Biennale if the organizers allow Russia to participate in the Biennale.

The inclusion of Russia is not in line with European values, said the spokesperson of the Commission Thomas Regnier to the journalists of the British newspaper The Guardian by.

“Culture in Europe should promote and protect democratic values. It should support open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression. These values ​​are not respected in today’s Russia,” Régnier said.

The organizers of the biennale announced last week that Russia will be allowed to participate in the event starting on May 9. Russia has not participated in the biennale since it invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Which The second annual Venice Biennale is a prestigious international exhibition of contemporary art. The decision on Russia’s participation has aroused strong opposition, including from Italy within the government.

A total of 22 European countries’ culture ministers have demanded that the organizers reconsider the decision. To the director of the biennale Pietrangelo Buttafuocolle in the address in the letter it is stated that Russia has “systematically destroyed Ukrainian cultural life and heritage”.

“Giving a prestigious international cultural platform to Russia in this situation sends a deeply worrying message,” the ministers wrote.

The letter has also been signed by the Finnish Minister of Science and Culture Mari-Leena Talvitie (kok).

Buttafuoco, who has been the director of the biennale since 2024, has defended the decision to invite Russia to the exhibition.

“We believe that where there is art, there is dialogue,” Buttafuoco told the Italian The Republic -sanomalehdelle last week.

The Venice Biennale lasts from May to November.