BUDAPEST, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Members of the Northern Irish rap group Kneecap are banned from entering Hungary "for antisemitism and glorifying terror," a senior official said Thursday.
All three members of the UK-based trio have been banned from Hungary for three years on national security grounds, Zoltan Kovacs, the Hungarian secretary of state for international communication, announced on social media.
"The members of the band Kneecap have repeatedly and consistently engaged in antisemitic hate speech supporting terrorism and terrorist groups," the Hungarian government said in a statement on its official website shortly following Kovacs's tweet.
The band had been scheduled to perform at the Sziget Festival in Budapest in August. Despite earlier controversy and international criticism, festival organizers had approved the performance.
Israeli Ambassador to Hungary, Maya Kadosh, welcomed the move. ■
