The European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) has decided to terminate its current €2 million ($2.2 million) grant to the Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia after the Russian pavilion resumed operations for the first time since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.The decision followed a legal assessment and came on the recommendation of the European Commission, according to Ukrainska Pravda citing Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.“Cultural events, funded by European taxpayers’ money, should safeguard democratic values, foster open dialogue, diversity and freedom of expression – values which are not respected in today’s Russia,” Regnier said.The Venice Biennale remains among the world’s largest contemporary art exhibitions and is held every two years in Venice, Italy’s canal city, running this edition from May 9 to Nov. 22.The decision to terminate fundingThe funding cancellation procedure was initiated by the European Commission after Biennale Foundation President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco confirmed that the Russian pavilion would reopen during this year’s exhibition. Shortly after the invasion began, organizers barred Russian government authorities from participating, and the artists and curators at the Russian pavilion withdrew from the Biennale on their own in protest. Russia had been excluded from the program ever since, and the recent decision to allow its involvement again has sparked outrage from both the Italian government and the EU.