The European Commission has threatened to pull funding from the Venice Biennale over the art festival’s decision to allow Russia to participate for the first time since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Organizers of the prestigious international exhibition announced earlier this month that Russia would be permitted to take part in the event — held every two years, and taking place from May to November in 2026 — arguing they reject “any form of exclusion or censorship of culture and art.” While many countries run national pavilions at the Biennale, Moscow had been effectively blacklisted since 2022.
In a joint statement Tuesday, Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen and Culture Commissioner Glenn Micallef said that “Member States, institutions and organisations must act in line with EU sanctions,” adding that the festival’s decision to reinstate the pavilion after its four-year absence was “not compatible with the EU’s collective response to Russia’s brutal aggression.”
The commissioners warned that if Russia is allowed to participate, they “will examine further action, including the suspension or termination of an ongoing EU grant to the Biennale Foundation,” which organizes the event.
Italy’s Ministry of Culture said it opposed the festival’s decision, which was celebrated by Mikhail Shvydkoy, the Kremlin’s special representative for international cultural cooperation, as “proof that Russian culture is not isolated.”
Moscow has sought to use art, culture and sport as soft-power tools to end its diplomatic isolation on the world stage. Ukraine has called on European and other countries to maintain boycotts against Russian cultural figures and institutions.
Martina Sapio contributed to this report.
EU threatens to pull funding for famed Venice art festival over Russian return
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