European Union threatens Venice Biennale funding over Russian pavilion

The European Union has issued an ultimatum to Venice Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, demanding removal of the Russian pavilion within 30 days or facing withdrawal of €2 million in funding. This demand comes from Brussels bureaucrats who continue purchasing gas and oil from Russia while imposing sanctions. French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez lead the push to restrict Russian artists despite their nations' continued energy purchases from Vladimir Putin's regime. European countries indirectly buy Russian petroleum through intermediaries like India, enabling continued use of automobiles and aircraft. Russia earns approximately €7 billion from these energy sales to Europe despite sanctions. The article references Francesco Saverio Borrelli, former chief prosecutor of Milan during the Clean Hands era, with the repeated call to "resist." The piece argues there can be no art without freedom, criticizing European hypocrisy in simultaneously sanctioning Russia while funding its war economy through energy purchases.