Russia at Venice Biennale, Brussels cuts €2m EU funding: appeal ready
The European Commission has confirmed the withdrawal of the €2 million grant allocated to the La Biennale di Venezia foundation, opening up a new front of tension between Brussels and one of Italy’s most...
The European Commission has confirmed the withdrawal of the €2 million grant allocated to the La Biennale di Venezia foundation, opening up a new front of tension between Brussels and one of Italy’s most important cultural institutions.
The decision, formalised by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (Eacea) after a legal assessment and on the Commission’s recommendation, is linked to Russia’s controversial participation in the Biennale Arte 2026.
According to the EU executive, cultural events supported with Union funds must promote and protect democratic values, dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression, principles that “are not upheld in today’s Russia”. This is the reasoning Brussels has given for cutting off the European contribution.
Why Brussels decided to cut off funding
The affair stems from the return of Russia to the Venice Biennale for the first time since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Russian pavilion, owned by the Russian state, hosts the performance and musical project “The Tree Is Rooted in the Sky”, created by around fifty artists selected by the Moscow authorities. Although the pavilion has remained closed to the public, the installation has been made visible from the outside via a large screen.
The decision sparked strong protests from Ukraine and from numerous international artists, curators and cultural professionals, who accused Moscow of using its presence at the Biennale as a tool of cultural propaganda and “hybrid warfare”. Kyiv also challenged the alleged links between the pavilion’s curator and the Russian arms industry.
In recent months the European Commission had already warned the foundation that this choice could lead to the suspension of European funding. After deeming the explanations provided by the Biennale insufficient, Brussels decided to go ahead with the definitive withdrawal of the contribution.
La Biennale: "We will assert our case"
The La Biennale di Venezia foundation has announced that it will lodge an appeal against the measure.
In a statement, the institution stresses that the decision had “long been signalled in advance” and reiterates that it is ready to defend its position before the competent bodies.
The Biennale also points out that the European grant did not concern the art exhibition at the heart of the controversy, but activities in the Cinema Sector, in particular the Biennale College and the Venice Production Bridge.
“The grant co-financed activities that have nothing to do with Russia’s participation in the Biennale Arte,” the foundation says, specifying that the measure “has no significant impact on the budget, the accounts or the scheduled activities, which remain fully confirmed”.
The government’s reaction: Borgonzoni takes aim at Brussels
The Italian government reacted immediately.
Deputy culture minister Lucia Borgonzoni expressed full support for the Biennale’s decision to challenge the European measure.
“In Eacea’s reasoning, the elements that would justify a decision of this magnitude are not specified. This is yet another shameful political and ideological attack on an institution that produces culture and refuses to become a tool in the hands of those who shout the loudest in the European Union,” she said.
In recent days other centre-right figures had also criticised Brussels’ decision. The president of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, had called the withdrawal of funding “unacceptable”, arguing that artists cannot be treated as “soldiers” of their respective governments and that culture must continue to be a space for exchange and dialogue even at times of international crisis.
A case set to continue
The Biennale case is one of the most delicate intersections between foreign policy, culture and European funding since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Brussels reiterates that Union funds must be consistent with the EU’s founding values, while the foundation asserts its cultural autonomy and contests the link between the European contribution earmarked for film activities and the participation of the Russian pavilion in the Biennale Arte.
The dispute is now set to move onto the legal terrain, with the appeal announced by the Biennale potentially opening a new chapter in the stand-off between the Venetian institution and the European Commission.
