European Commission warns Italy that Russia’s Venice Biennale pavilion violates sanctions, Financial Times reports

The European Commission has warned the Italian government and the organizers of the Venice Biennale that opening Russia’s national pavilion at the exhibition violates the sanctions regime, breaching the ban on providing services to the Kremlin, the Financial Times reported.

The Commission’s culture agency wrote to the Biennale’s organizers that by failing to comply with sanctions, the exhibition was calling into question its commitment to EU values. In a separate letter to the Italian government, the Commission said the Biennale may be benefiting from Russia covering the costs of Russian artists’ participation — which it said appeared to qualify as indirect economic support.

Brussels asked the Biennale to clarify what arrangements exist between it and the Russian government so the Commission could assess whether they comply with sanctions.

A Commission spokesperson confirmed that letters had been sent to both the Italian government and the Biennale’s organizers, and that the Biennale had 30 days to respond. “Cultural events funded by European taxpayers money should safeguard democratic values, foster open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression — values which are not respected in today’s Russia,” the spokesperson said.

The Biennale said it had complied with all national and international rules and acted within its authority. The Italian government did not respond to a request for comment. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had previously said that in the organizers’ place, she would not have opened the Russian pavilion.

Russia’s pavilion at the Venice Biennale will be open only to a professional audience — journalists and art critics — and only for three days, May 6 through May 8. When the Biennale opens to the general public on May 9, the Russian pavilion will be closed; visitors will only be able to view it from the outside.

The organizers of the Venice Biennale drew criticism after announcing in March that Russia would return to the exhibition for the first time since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The European Commission had previously threatened to cut the Biennale’s three-year, two-million-euro grant. Against that backdrop, the Biennale jury excluded Russia and Israel from consideration for awards, then resigned.