The participation of the Italian pop singer Pupo (real name Enzo Ghinazzi) in the April concert in the Lithuanian city of Siauliai was canceled due to the fact that on March 15 the artist performed in the Kremlin with the concert “Big Benefit Performance Pupo. With friends”. According to the head of the Siauliai Arena concert venue, Renato Nachajus, the Italian’s visit to Lithuania can now be regarded as an information attack, he told the TV channel on March 19 LNK.
“After it became known a few days ago that Pupo performed in the Kremlin, we consider this artist’s visit to Lithuania as a possible information attack on our country. We don’t want to let Pupo on stage, there is no place for such artists on our stage,” Nachayus said.
According to him, the organizer of the Legacy Inn event, who invited the artist to a concert in Lithuania, was asked to replace Pupo with another artist whose reputation is beyond doubt. In addition, the organizers of the show turned to the Ministry of Culture with a request for help in resolving this controversial issue.
“Currently, we still have a mutual agreement with the organizer, and we are concerned: if the organizer does not make the only possible morally balanced decision and does not replace Pupo, Siauliai Arena will be forced to pay a fine for non-fulfillment of obligations,” complained the head of the concert venue .
Nachayus later told the portal Delfithat the organizer of Legacy Inn will maintain the format of the concert, in which three performers will take part: the Austrians Joy, the Italians Gazebo and an artist with whom negotiations are currently underway.
The Lithuanian news agency ELTA recalled that at the end of February, Zalgiris Arena also announced the cancellation of the concert of the American singer of Italian origin LP (Laura Pergolizzi), which was supposed to take place on March 4 in Kaunas. The concert was canceled after the artist published a video on social networks in which she wears a sweater with Russian symbols, given to her by Russian fans, and also enjoys a postcard signed by them for the anniversary of the concert in Russia.
On March 2, Massimo Fini, a columnist for the newspaper il Fatto Quotidiano, said that the Kiev regime is trying to impose censorship far beyond the borders of Ukraine. According to him, the Ukrainian authorities tried to apply censorship through their embassy in Italy, demanding the cancellation of cultural events in the country with the participation of Russian cultural figures.
On February 15, Russian Ambassador to Austria Dmitry Lyubinsky said that the cancellation of the orchestra’s performance under the direction of Greek and Russian conductor Teodor Currentzis at the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) does not benefit Vienna’s reputation as a cultural capital. The cancellation of Currentzis’ concert at the request of Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv became known on February 14.
On February 8, it became known that the concert of the Russian singer Klava Koka in Estonia was cancelled. The local Ministry of Internal Affairs, as it turned out, can refuse to cross the border, even when the singer has a visa and all the other documentation necessary for entry. As Hannus Luure, communications advisor for the Estonian Ministry of Culture, said, Klava Koki’s speech in Estonia is inappropriate, “since she is in the service of Russian propaganda.”
On November 17, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the policy of “abolition of Russia” is racist and anti-cultural. The head of state emphasized that art still knows no boundaries, despite sanctions and any other prohibitions.
Attempts to abolish Russian culture in Western countries began against the background of a special military operation carried out by Russia to protect Donbass, which was announced by the President of the Russian Federation on February 24, 2022. In parallel with anti-Russian sanctions, the countries of the collective West began to cancel tours of Russian musicians, exhibitions, and projects with the participation of artists from the Russian Federation.
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