Latvia has banned three Russian citizens from entering the country over their involvement in organizing the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale, according to TVnet.
Those included in the “black list” are special representative of the President of Russia Mikhail Shvydkoy, the main organizer of the pavilion Anastasia Karneeva, and the daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Yekaterina Vinokurova. The ban is indefinite.
The entry ban for these individuals has been imposed for an unspecified period. The decision was made in accordance with national immigration law, which allows the Minister of Foreign Affairs to declare foreign nationals persona non grata.
All three sanctioned individuals are directly linked to organizing Russia’s participation in the upcoming Venice Biennale. Mikhail Shvydkoy, who serves as the special representative of the Russian president for international cultural cooperation, was one of the main lobbyists for the project. Anastasia Karneeva is the main organizer of the Russian pavilion, while Yekaterina Vinokurova, the daughter of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, is listed as a co-founder of the company serving as the official operator of the Russian pavilion.
Russia’s return to the exhibition, set to open on May 9, has sparked strong criticism from Ukraine and several European countries. This is the first time Moscow is participating in the Biennale since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In the previous two editions, the Russian pavilion was not used: in 2022, artists withdrew their works in protest, and in 2024 the building was handed over to Bolivia. The decision by the Biennale organizers to allow Russia’s participation also triggered a response from the European Commission, which officially withdrew €2 million in grant support from the event.
