BUDAPEST – Members of the Irish-language rap group Kneecap were prohibited from entering Hungary before their anticipated performance at the renowned Sziget Festival, as authorities claimed the musicians’ presence posed a threat to national security.
The Belfast trio, set to perform on Sziget’s final day on Aug. 11, is recognized for their anarchic energy, satirical lyrics, and use of symbols linked to the Irish republican movement, which seeks to reunify Northern Ireland, currently part of the U.K., with the Republic of Ireland.
The group has been criticized for lyrics filled with expletives and drug references and for making political statements that appear to glorify militant organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah.
Kneecap has accused critics of trying to silence the band because of its support for the Palestinian cause throughout Israel’s war in Gaza and say they don’t support Hezbollah and Hamas nor condone violence.
Hungary’s immigration authority, the National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing, published decrees on Thursday declaring Kneecap members Naoise Ó Cairealláin, J.J. Ó Dochartaigh and Liam Óg ÓhAnnaidh would be banned from Hungary’s territory for three years since their “entry and stay constitute a serious threat to national security.”
Government spokesman Zoltán Kovács wrote on social platform X that the decision to ban Kneecap was due to “antisemitic hate speech and open praise for Hamas and Hezbollah.”
Hungarian authorities and other groups had earlier pushed Sziget Festival to cancel the band’s performance. Hungary’s minister for European affairs, János Bóka, noted the government’s “zero-tolerance” policy toward antisemitism in a July 11 letter to the festival’s organizers.
Hundreds of figures from Hungary’s music and cultural community also have signed a petition calling for Kneecap’s performance to be cancelled.
The group performed in April at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, where they accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians enabled by the U.S. government. That sparked calls for the rappers’ U.S. visas to be revoked and several Kneecap gigs have since been canceled as a result.
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