Kneecap have been banned from coming into Hungary for 3 years — simply two weeks earlier than they had been set to play Budapest’s Sziget Competition. Authorities argue that the Northern Irish rap trio’s scheduled efficiency “posed a nationwide safety risk.”
“[Kneecap]’s members repeatedly have interaction in antisemitic hate speech supporting terrorism and terrorist teams,” authorities spokesman Zoltán Kovács wrote on X/Twitter. “Hungary has zero tolerance for antisemitism in any type.”
Kovács added, “The federal government insists that pageant organizers should guarantee compliance with Hungarian regulation and morally sound programming. The actual problem: this isn’t simply protest — it’s assist for terror, celebration of extremist violence and a transparent anti‑Semitic assertion.”
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In a assertion of their very own, Kneecap identified the hypocrisy of welcoming “needed warfare felony” Benjamin Netanyahu “like a hero” simply weeks earlier. “The authoritarian authorities of Viktor Orban say we ‘pose a nationwide safety risk,’” they wrote. “There isn’t any authorized foundation for his actions, no member of Kneecap has ever been convicted of any crime in any nation. We stand towards all hate crimes and Kneecap champions love and solidarity in addition to calling out injustices the place we see it.”
Echoing a number of of their earlier statements, Kneecap stated the federal government’s motion was a “political distraction and an additional try and silence those that name out genocide towards the Palestinian folks.”
For its half, Sziget Competition condemned the choice. “That is an unprecedented transfer which we imagine is each pointless and regrettable,” an announcement learn, including that that they had labored carefully with Kneecap to make sure their efficiency “wouldn’t contravene both Sziget’s values or Hungarian regulation.”
Kneecap’s ban from Hungary comes months after a number of of their live shows had been canceled in Germany, amid backlash to their pro-Palestine, anti-Israel Coachella 2025 efficiency. Since then, member Mo Chara has been charged with a terror offense for allegedly displaying a flag in assist of Hezbollah throughout a earlier live performance.
The group’s efficiency at Glastonbury 2025, which noticed them main chants of “Fuck [UK prime minister] Keir Starmer” and “Free, free Palestine,” resulted in a separate felony investigation, which was dropped earlier this month.
📢 As I’ve already introduced. Right here it’s, straight from the Authorities Data Heart:
🚫 @KneecapCEOL’s members repeatedly have interaction in antisemitic hate speech supporting terrorism and terrorist teams. Hungary has zero tolerance for antisemitism in any type.
❌Their deliberate…
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) July 24, 2025
🛑 Hungary’s authorities has moved to ban @KneecapCEOL from coming into the nation and acting at @szigetofficial—citing antisemitic hate speech and open reward for Hamas and Hezbollah as justification.
⚠️ The official message: “zero tolerance for antisemitism” and an obligation to…
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) July 24, 2025
A message for all who’d hoped to see us on stage at Sziget in 2 weeks👇❤️ pic.twitter.com/JKFuKIkAf4
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) July 24, 2025
