{"id":344078,"date":"2025-08-14T14:34:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T14:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/344078\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T14:34:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T14:34:11","slug":"the-royal-ballet-and-opera-must-reconsider-its-invitation-to-anna-netrebko-royal-opera-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/344078\/","title":{"rendered":"The Royal Ballet and Opera must reconsider its invitation to Anna Netrebko | Royal Opera House"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Ukrainians, the UK\u2019s unwavering support \u2013 from its governments to its people and cultural institutions like the Royal Ballet<\/a> and Opera \u2013 has been a vital source of strength and hope amid Russia\u2019s brutal war of aggression.<\/p>\n

It is, therefore, with great pain that we witness the Royal Opera House<\/a> inviting Anna Netrebko \u2013 a longtime symbol of cultural propaganda for a regime that is responsible for serious war crimes \u2013 to return to its stage in title roles.<\/p>\n

Even more troubling is the statement by the chief executive of the Royal Ballet and Opera suggesting that its earlier support for Ukraine \u201cwas aligned with the global consensus at the time<\/a>\u201d and that its position has since changed due to \u201ccomplex geopolitics\u201d.<\/p>\n

We must ask: do Russia\u2019s recent escalated attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities and civilians and its intentional and systematic attempts to erase Ukrainian culture fall into this category of complexity, somehow justifying Netrebko\u2019s return? Can the Royal Opera credibly claim neutrality and integrity while offering its stage to someone who, in 2014, publicly waved the flag of \u201cNovorossiya\u201d, the Kremlin\u2019s separatist project in Ukraine\u2019s Donetsk region, parts of which remain under Russian military occupation?<\/p>\n

The Royal Opera<\/a> now faces a defining choice: between status and responsibility, between profit and values, between silence and conscience. We urge you to remain, as you consistently have, on the ethical side of art \u2013 and of history.<\/p>\n

Sergiy Kyslytsya<\/strong> First deputy foreign minister of Ukraine
Andriy Kurkov<\/strong> Author, PEN Ukraine
Helen Clark<\/strong> Former prime minister of New Zealand
Alex Sobel<\/strong> MP<\/strong> Labour (Co-op), Leeds Central and Headingley, and chair, all-party parliamentary group on Ukraine
John Whittingdale<\/strong> MP<\/strong> Vice-chair, all-party parliamentary group on Ukraine; member, foreign affairs committee
Roger Gale MP<\/strong> Conservative, Herne Bay and Sandwich
Scott Arthur<\/strong> MP<\/strong> Labour, Edinburgh South West
Chris Law MP<\/strong> SNP, Dundee Central
Blair McDougall<\/strong> MP<\/strong> Labour, East Renfrewshire; member, foreign affairs committee
Johanna Baxter MP<\/strong> Labour, Paisley and Renfrewshire South
Bernard-Henri L\u00e9vy<\/strong> Philosopher, journalist, film-maker and public intellectual
Mstyslav Chernov<\/strong> Producer, film-maker
Serhiy Zhadan<\/strong> Author, translator
Roza Tapanova<\/strong> Director, Babyn Yar<\/a> national historical and memorial reserve
Kathy Nalywajko<\/strong> President, Ukrainian Institute of America
Lydia Zaininger<\/strong> Executive director, Ukrainian Institute of America
Bohdana Pivnenko<\/strong> Violinist, general director and artistic director, National Ensemble of Soloists Kyiv Camerata
Svitlana Azarova<\/strong> Composer, The Hague, Netherlands
Dr Olesya Khromeychuk<\/strong> Historian, writer, director of the Ukrainian Institute London
Olia Hercules<\/strong> Chef, award-winning author and activist
Petro Rewko<\/strong> Chairman of the board of directors, Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain
Fedir Kurlak<\/strong> Chief executive and member of the board, Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain
Iryna Terlecky<\/strong> Chair, Ukrainian Women\u2019s Association; board member, Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain
Inna Hryhorovych<\/strong> Chair, Association of Ukrainian Teachers in Great Britain; director, Ukrainian St Mary\u2019s Trust
Anna Fedeczko<\/strong> Chair, Ukrainian Youth Association in Great Britain
Dr Roman Cregg<\/strong> President, Ukrainian Medical Association of the UK
Viktoriya Shtanko<\/strong> CEO, Ukraine Appeal
Natalia Ravlyuk<\/strong> Director, Support Ukraine\/London EuroMaidan
Iryna Rapiy<\/strong> Deputy director of Support Ukraine\/board committee member of AUGB London
Dr Tetyana Vovnyanko<\/strong> Trustee, British-Ukrainian Aid
Marta Mulyak<\/strong> Head, Plast Ukrainian Scouts in Great Britain
Mick Antoniw<\/strong> MS<\/strong> Senedd4Ukraine group
Danylo Nikiforov<\/strong> Founder, Ukrainian Students Union in the UK
Prof Dennis Ougrin<\/strong> Vice-president, Ukrainian Medical Association of the United Kingdom
Alex Lidagovsky<\/strong> Sculptor
Aliona Hlivco<\/strong> Founder and CEO, St James\u2019s Foreign Policy Group
Kateryna Babkina<\/strong> Writer
Dasha Nepochatova<\/strong> DPhil student, New College, University of Oxford
Alexandra Kutas<\/strong> Disability advocate and humanitarian leader
Maria Springis<\/strong> Director, producer and filmmaker, Dreams Into Reality Production
Oksana Lovochkina<\/strong> CEO, Ukrainian Medical Charity
Dr Olha Mukha<\/strong> Senior strategist in strategic communications and human rights
Antonina Grebeniuk<\/strong> Founder, Ukraine Aid and Welfare, Bristol
Alina Luts<\/strong> Founder and director, Ukrainian Social Club CIC
Kseniia Iaremych<\/strong> Legal counsel
Maria Romanenko<\/strong> Journalist, editor, public speaker and activist
Vadym Granovskiy<\/strong> United Kingdom Cezve\/Ibrik champion and barista
Ela Czuruk<\/strong> Group, lead volunteer, 1st Plast London Ukrainian Scouts
Tetyana Birch<\/strong> Executive trustee, The Chernobyl Relief Foundation in the UK
Nataliia Horbenko<\/strong> Director, Ukrainian Art House in London
Oksana Miletska<\/strong> Trustee, Women Fight For Ukraine Foundation
Viktoriya Kiose<\/strong> Journalist and director, UABeyond
Kostiantyn Bidnenko<\/strong> Film-maker and producer
Prof Olga Onuch<\/strong> Professor of comparative and Ukrainian politics, University of Manchester
Dr Daria Mattingly<\/strong> Senior lecturer in European history, University of Chichester
Ivan Kozlenko<\/strong> Writer, film scholar, University of Cambridge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Ukrainians, the UK\u2019s unwavering support \u2013 from its governments to its people and cultural institutions like the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-344078","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-northern-ireland","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115027618297641067","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}