Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s Executive Vice President for Tech Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy, announced the punitive measure. The recommendation has been formally submitted to the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), which oversees the allocation of the cultural funds, News.Az reports, citing Anadolu Agency.
The funding slash follows an intensive review by European officials after the Biennale leadership attempted to defend its choice to bring Russian artists back to the world-famous exhibition. The EU remains entirely unconvinced by those arguments.
***
“Culture in Europe — funded with taxpayers’ money — should promote and safeguard democratic values,” Virkkunen stated in a post on X. “These values are not respected in today’s Russia.”
The financial standoff underscores a hardening stance within European institutions against giving state-backed Russian cultural projects an international platform amid ongoing geopolitical conflicts.
