Russian conductor Gergiev expelled from Swedish academy

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
13 Oct 2022 22:50

Citing Gergiev's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the academy had asked him to repudiate his support for Russia's operation in Ukraine.

Russian conductor Valery Gergiev

The Royal Swedish Academy of Music said Thursday it expelled Russian conductor Valery Gergiev citing his stance on the Ukraine conflict.

"Through his close ties with the Russian government which today is attacking Ukraine, we find that he has acted in a way that we cannot afford not to distance ourselves from," Susanne Ryden, president of the academy, told sources.

"This is unacceptable and not something the academy can be associated with," she added.

Since 2011, Gergiev had held a senior honorary position within the institution, which ranks among one of the 10 royal academies in Sweden.

He had already been declared persona non grata ("person not welcome" in Latin) by European concert halls, including in Germany, France, and Italy.

He was barred from directing the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in Berlin and dismissed from performing an opera by Tchaikovsky in La Scala, Milan.

Another celebrity who suffered a similar fate is soprano Anna Netrebko who withdrew from the Metropolitan Opera in New York after refusing to renounce her support of Russia.

She later condemned the war in Ukraine and stated her desire to perform again in Europe.

Since the beginning of the year, anti-Russian sentiment has been on the rise in light of the conflict opposing Russia to Ukraine.

Not only several cultural institutions have started barring Russian artists, but countries in the EU sought a variety of ways to further punish Moscow economically.

On September 9, the European Council announced that it has fully suspended visa facilitation between the EU and Russia, thus reversing the agreement that served to simplify visa applications for Russian citizens.

EU states have also suggested banning Russian tourists altogether - however, that will cost the EU €21 billion in losses, which is why it did not go through.

In early August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mused that the Russians should “live in their own world until they change their philosophy,” and urged the West to refuse entry to Russian tourists.

Moscow responded by saying that such proposals would only have a negative effect on all involved and called the measure “discriminatory.”

On October 5, the EU reached an agreement to impose a price cap on Russian oil sales to third countries in an attempt to block Moscow's use of EU-registered vessels for its oil exports, all while excluding pipeline deliveries from the 8th round of sanctions on Russia.

Putin said a day later that Russia will stop supplying oil and gas to countries that impose price caps. He stated that Russia will honor its contractual responsibilities and hoped that other countries would follow suit.

On September 27, it was reported that Meta announced that it removed 1,600 "fake accounts" on grounds of allegedly spreading pro-Russian propaganda.

On March 21, Russia took to trial a request to ban Meta after the tech giant allowed the incitement of violence against Russians on its platforms. Posts that were calling for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko were left uncensored by the social network company.

The week prior, Meta had permitted its users to incite violence against the Russian armed forces on its social media platforms in light of Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine. On April 21, Russia imposed sanctions against Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg.

On August 8, the Russian Embassy in the United States published a statement that called on the UN and the IAEA to condemn "Kiev’s criminal acts and take urgent measures to prevent provocations at radiation hazardous facilities in Ukraine. As for American journalists - stop bawling Russophobic fabrications."