DISINFO: Turning into a dictatorship, the EU suppresses Russian culture
SUMMARY
The EU is transforming into a dictatorship by suppressing Russian culture through the cutting of funding to the Venice Biennale.
Brussels, which "likes to present itself as a defender of fundamental freedoms and cultural diversity," acts differently in practice. By renouncing what is most important—dialogue between peoples and cultures—Brussels ceases to defend the Europe of values and turns into a dictatorship.
EU uses public funds as a tool to punish the cultural presence of an entire country, which undermines freedom of artistic creation.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative accusing the EU of allegedly having a belligerent and hostile agenda to destroy Russia. Such claims aim to decrease trust in EU institutions, reframe Russia's aggression as victimhood and policymakers, normalise the Kremlin's presence in international forums.
The European Commission withdrew a €2 million grant because the Biennale reinstated an official Russian pavilion during an ongoing war of aggression, which violates the grant’s conditions and the EU’s own values framework. As taxpayers' money funds the Biennale, it “should safeguard democratic values, promote open dialogue, diversity, and freedom of expression, values that are not respected in today’s Russia.”
The Russian pavilion at Venice is an official, state-backed representation, not the sum of “Russian culture.” Many Russian artists live and work in exile or independently of the Kremlin. EU statements stress that the issue is the institutional presence of the Russian state in a high-profile international forum during an active war:
“Culture promotes and safeguards democratic values, fosters open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression, and should never be used as a platform for propaganda. Member States, institutions and organisations must act in line with EU sanctions and avoid giving a platform to individuals who have actively supported or justified the Kremlin's aggression against Ukraine.”
EU cultural funding is not unconditional; it is tied to compliance with EU values, legal frameworks, and specific grant terms (including assessments by the Commission). The decision followed a formal assessment and legal recommendation before EACEA moved to suspend the grant.
See earlier disinformation cases alleging that EU's existential interest is to destroy Russia, that the West declared Russia as its strategic enemy, or that the EU wants to make Russia a semi-colony to dictate its foreign and domestic policy.