Italy has cancelled a concert by a pro-Russian conductor

A performance by Valery Gergiev, known for his support of Vladimir Putin, has been cancelled at the major music festival Un'Estate da Re in Italy.

The concert, which was to have taken place on 27 July at the Royal Palace of Caserta near Naples, has drawn sharp condemnation both in Italy and abroad. Politico reports that.

Organisers announced the cancellation of the performance on Monday after Gergiev's invitation sparked political backlash. It was to have been his first concert in the European Union since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"Such a performance could send the wrong message," Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said.

Gergiev has long been known as an outspoken supporter of Kremlin policies. In 2014, he supported the annexation of Crimea, and in 2008 he conducted nationalist concerts following the occupation of South Ossetia by Russian troops. After launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Europe's major opera houses and festivals stopped working with him.

Gergiev is considered part of the Kremlin's propaganda machine. His participation in cultural events outside Russia is seen as a continuation of Moscow's imperial agenda.

Ukraine and a number of EU countries are in favour of banning pro-Russian artists because they believe they are inseparable from the Kremlin's political agenda. The European Commission has also intervened: according to POLITICO, it insisted that Spanish organisers make sure that concerts featuring Gergiev are not financed from the EU budget.