Hungarian government bans Kneecap from entering country

Zoltán Kovács, Hungarian State Secretary for International Communications, has confirmed on his social media page that the Hungarian government has indeed banned the Irish trio Kneecap from entering the country due to anti-Semitic hate speech.

"The official message: zero tolerance for antisemitism and a duty to protect Hungarian – especially Jewish – communities. The government insists that festival organizers must ensure compliance with Hungarian law and morally sound programming", Zoltán Kovács wrote in his post. He added that the band's performance would have been a celebration of extremist violence and terror.

It has also been posted on the website of the National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing that the band members are not allowed to enter Hungary. According to the decision, a three-year ban on independent travel to and staying in Hungary has been imposed on all three band members: British citizens J.J. Ó Dochartaigh, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, and Naoise Ó Cairealláin.

In their official statements, both the Hungarian government's Information Center and the National Directorate General for Aliens' Policing have said that Kneecap's performance would be harmful to Hungary's national security interests.

Magyar Nemzet had reported on Thursday morning that, according to their information, the government is banning the rap trio from entering Hungary due to anti-Semitic hate speech. The band was scheduled to perform at the Sziget Festival on August 11.

Kneecap has been causing a stir for some time with its pro-Hamas and anti-Israel statements, and several of the band's performances have already been canceled. For example, after their performance at this year's Coachella, two German festivals announced that Kneecap would not be playing at their events after all.

Sziget: Cancel culture and cultural boycotts are not the answer

In their reaction to the government's decision, the organizers of Sziget Festival said: "We fear that today's decision of the government to ban Kneecap may not only damage the reputation of Sziget, but will also negatively affect Hungary's image abroad," the statement sent by Sziget Festival to Telex reads. "As previously stated, while upholding the core values of Sziget, we condemn hate speech, but at the same time guarantee the fundamental right of artistic expression to all performers, " the statement read, adding: "We believe that cancel culture and cultural boycotts are not the answer."

Kneecap: Fuck Viktor Orbán

The Irish trio also reacted to the ban, voicing their opinion in a social media post. They first addressed the fans who were hoping to see them at the festival in a few weeks' time, saying they were sorry they wouldn't be able to be with them, and then continued by saying that

“The authoritarian government of Viktor Orban say we “pose a national security threat” which is fucking outrageous coming from a man who welcomed Netanyahu, a wanted war criminal…There is no legal basis for his actions, no member of Kneecap has ever been convicted of any crime in any country. We stand against all hate crimes and Kneecap champions love and solidarity as well as calling out injustice where we see it…we will fight on for what is right.” At the end of their post, they concluded with a “Fuck Viktor Orban”.