The Embassy of Ukraine in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has officially called on the country's authorities to cancel a concert by Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko at the "Philharmonie Luxembourg," scheduled for June 15, 2026. This is not the first such diplomatic pressure on European venues — nor is it the first successful campaign.
What Ukraine is claiming
In the embassy's statement, Netrebko is described as an artist closely associated with the Kremlin. Diplomats reminded that Russia has used culture for years as an instrument of international image, and performances by prominent figures from the Kremlin cultural establishment cannot be viewed separately from the context of a full-scale war. The embassy informed the relevant Luxembourg authorities and called for a review of the circumstances of the event — while thanking the country for its support of Ukraine.
The claims against Netrebko are neither new nor unfounded. In 2014, she was photographed with the flag of so-called "Novorossiya" and publicly supported fighters of the so-called "L/DNR." In 2023, Ukraine added the singer to its sanctions list. After the full-scale invasion in 2022, New York's Metropolitan Opera terminated her contract over her refusal to publicly condemn Putin, and the Bavarian State Opera subsequently did the same.
Culture in the hands of the Kremlin machine is as much a weapon as missiles and tanks.
— Embassy of Ukraine in France, February 2026
There are precedents — and they work
In autumn 2025, the Embassy of Ukraine in Romania, working together with local activists, achieved the cancellation of Netrebko's concert in Cluj-Napoca. A performance with the Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra and the awarding of an honorary doctorate from the National Music Academy named after George Dima — both events were cancelled. Earlier, a similar campaign worked in Prague: organizers followed a recommendation from the city authorities, who consulted with the Ukrainian embassy — despite more than 80% of tickets being sold.
Hungary, on the other hand, refused: the Budapest State Opera did not cancel Netrebko's performance in March 2025 even after an official appeal from the Ukrainian ambassador. The difference in reactions is telling: decisions are made by specific directors and governments, not by an abstract "Europe."
In parallel, in February 2026, the Embassy of Ukraine in France called on Paris's Théâtre des Champs-Élysées to withdraw from an entire series of performances by Russian artists from March to June — including Netrebko again. In other words, Luxembourg is part of a coordinated diplomatic campaign, not an isolated incident.
Why this matters beyond opera
According to Ukraine's Ambassador to Great Britain Valery Zaluzhny, Netrebko's performances are part of the Kremlin's "soft power" that legitimizes war crimes. First Lady Olena Zelenska added that such decisions fuel cultural expropriation — when the achievements of Ukrainian art are attributed to Russia. This is not about personal antipathy toward a particular singer, but about who and under what conditions gets access to public venues in countries that officially support Ukraine.
Luxembourg is a small but symbolically important country: home to key EU institutions, a donor of aid to Ukraine, a participant in sanctions packages against Russia. The decision by the state "Philharmonie Luxembourg" is not only a cultural issue but also a signal about where the line is drawn between art and political responsibility.
If the "Philharmonie Luxembourg" does not cancel the concert, it will become the first overt disconnect between the country's official position on the war and the decision of its state cultural institution — and this very precedent will be used by those who already argue that "art is beyond politics."
