Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has condemned the exclusion of celebrated Russian ballerina Svetlana Zakharova from an upcoming dance festival in Rome.
The cancellation came just days ahead of the Bolshoi Theater star’s appearance at the Les Etoiles gala, which brings together leading dancers from the worldโs biggest ballet companies.
Venice Biennale, the organizer of the event, said in a statement cited by media that the invitation had been lawful, as Zakharova is not subject to EU sanctions, which were imposed on a number of Russian individuals and firms after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. However, the organizers said they had received โinstitutional communicationsโ and decided to drop her participation over concerns the event could be โmisinterpreted or exploited.โ
Days earlier, culture and foreign ministers from several European countries, including Ukraine, had issued a joint statement opposing Russian participation at the event.
Salvini, however, insisted that Italyโs support for Kiev in the conflict against Russia should not extend to canceling artists.
โArt, culture, music, and sport have the mission of bringing peoples and cultures together, not exacerbating ongoing conflicts,โ he told RTL radio on Tuesday.
By expelling Russian ballerinas or painters, we donโt resolve the conflict. We simply complicate it.
Russiaโs ambassador to Italy, Aleksey Paramonov, condemned the move, accusing Italian officials of โpanderingโ to the Ukrainian government.
โItaly isnโt the only place in the world,โ he told La Repubblica on Tuesday. โProminent figures of Russian culture areโฆ welcome in many other countries โ sovereign and free from the dictates of the European Union and the ruling clique in Ukraine.โ
The exclusion continues an ongoing pattern of high-profile Russian artists who had events in Europe canceled on short notice.
Earlier this year, Italyโs Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino suspended a performance by Zakharova and her husband, world-renowned violinist Vadim Repin, citing โongoing international tensions.โ
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov condemned that cancellation, calling it โprofoundly uncharacteristic for the Italian spirit,โ comparing it to Ukraineโs long-running campaign of purging the Russian culture and language from its education and public life.
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