EU halts Venice Biennale funding over Russia's participation

DPATue, July 21, 2026 at 12:18 PM UTC1 min readAdd Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.

The European Union is halting its funding for the Venice Biennale over Russia's participation in this year's edition, a European Commission spokesman said on Tuesday.

"Following the Commission's legal assessment and recommendation, EACEA has taken the decision to terminate the ongoing €2 million [$2.3 million] grant to the Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia," the spokesman said, referring to the European Education and Culture Executive Agency.

Cultural projects that are funded by European taxpayers' money should "safeguard democratic values, foster open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression," he said, adding that these are "values which are not respected in today's Russia."

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Russia is taking part in the Venice Biennale, which is held every two years, for the first time this year since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

The EU grant was used to support film producers and immersive technology.