Ahead of Venice Biennale, Ukraine pushing EU to impose visa bans on Russian pavilion members

Prefer on Google by Kate Tsurkan Photo for illustrative purposes. A general view of the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale. (Photo by Alberto Gardin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Ukraine is pushing for the European Union to impose visa bans on participants of the Russian pavilion ahead of the Venice Biennale, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha told journalists on April 21. “We have imposed sanctions on those individuals, the Russian participants. And we are now raising the issue to ensure they are not granted visas. We very much hope that we will be heard... and expect that visas will not be issued," Sybiha said. Ukraine sanctioned five participants of the Russian pavilion on April 10, including its commissioner Anastasia Karneeva, who has ties to Russia's military defense complex. Karneeva is the daughter of Nikolai Volobuev, the deputy CEO of Rostec, Russia's largest state-owned defense company. Her business partner at the art consultancy company Smart Art is Ekaterina Vinokurova , the daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The sanctions imposed by Ukraine against Karneeva and four other members of the Russian pavilion include asset blocking, a ban on entry, termination of cultural exchanges, and restrictions on economic activity. However, these sanctions apply only to the territory of Ukraine. Ukraine and its allies have been pushing back against Russia's imminent return to the Venice Biennale, with the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, declaring on April 21 that it was "morally wrong," and adding that the EU intended to cut its funding for the Biennale should Russia not be stopped from participating. The Russian government is directly involved in the operations of the Russian Pavilion. In 2021, the Russian Culture Ministry appointed Karneeva as the pavilion’s commissioner, granting her an eight-year term. "While Russia bombs museums, destroys churches and seeks to erase Ukrainian culture, it should not be allowed to exhibit its own," Kallas said. The Biennale, as a private institution, operates independently of direct government control, limiting the Italian government's ability to shape its decisions. Still, Italy’s Culture Ministry has publicly expressed support for Ukraine's position. Pietrangolo Buttafuoco, the right-wing journalist currently at the head of the Biennale, has defended Russia's involvement and spoken out against "censorship."