EU to suspend funding for Venice Biennale if Russia is allowed to participate

Russia's planned participation in this year's Venice Biennale could constitute a "breach of contract" which could lead to the suspension of a €2 million EU funding package for the event, reported Reuters.

At a press conference in Brussels, European Commission spokesman Thomas Régnier condemned the Biennale Foundation's decision to allow Russia to participate in the seven-month-long contemporary art show, saying that "culture in Europe must promote and defend democratic values," which he said are not honored in today's Russia.

Régnier explained that the commission’s funding for the Biennale was at risk, referring to an “ongoing €2 million project” that supports film producers at the festival. “If there is a breach of contract, as we have done with every grant agreement, the commission will terminate or suspend the contract.”

Régnier's statement comes two days after a press release from the European Commission on Tuesday, which u whomurgently requested member states to “avoid giving a platform to individuals who have actively supported or justified the Kremlin’s aggression against Ukraine” and promised further action against the Biennale’s organizers, including suspending or cutting off its EU funding.

The announcement last week that Russia would participate in the 2026 Biennale prompted immediate reactions, including from the governments of Ukraine and 21 other European countries.

In a joint letter to the president of the Biennale Foundation and former right-wing journalist Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, European culture ministers They argued that "giving Russia a prestigious international cultural platform sends a deeply disturbing signal" and called on the organizers to reconsider their decision.

Russia has never been officially excluded from the Venice Biennale, but it chose not to open its pavilion at the festival's final edition in 2024, having previously been unable to participate in 2022 due to the last-minute withdrawal of Russian artists contracted for its pavilion due to their opposition to the war in Ukraine. The Biennale Foundation has stressed that it does not decide which countries can participate in the exhibition, as nations themselves own the pavilions at the event.

The organizers' claim has been rejected by Russian opposition groups, including the feminist art collective Pussy Riot, who they were told to their Instagram followers that allowing Russia to participate would constitute "a political decision by Italy."

“The Russian pavilion is not an embassy: it is not sovereign territory and has no diplomatic status,” Pussy Riot said. “This means that the Italian government, the Venice authorities and the Biennale itself can say ‘no’ to Russia if they choose to do so.”