Warsaw, Poland –
The Polish city of Krakow has canceled the gig of Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters over his sympathetic stance against Russia in the war against Ukraine, a local MP said Monday, inviting the singer. visited Ukraine with him to see the extent of Russia’s crimes.
Councilman Lukasz Wantuch said the city owns the arena where two Waters concerts were scheduled for April before being cancelled. He said the city would not accept them being used by an artist who spreads ideas that are objectionable to most people in Poland. And he said Waters was free to perform in a private venue if he wanted to.
“He didn’t realize the truth,” Wantuch told The Associated Press. “He doesn’t understand what is happening in Ukraine.”
Polish media reported on Saturday that the gigs had been canceled by Waters’ management in response to outcry over his views. Waters denied that on Sunday, and Wantuch confirmed that Krakow and the venue made the decision to cancel the concerts.
Wantuch, who has carried out 27 humanitarian missions to Ukraine since the war began, led a symbolic resolution declaring Waters a “grata-free personality” in the city. A vote is expected to take place.
Wantuch invited Waters in a Facebook post open Monday to join him on his visit to Ukraine to witness first-hand the extent of the Russian attacks.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Waters accused Wantuch of a “draconian censorship of my work.”
“Wantuch seems oblivious to my history of working, my whole life, at some personal expense, in the service of human rights,” he said.
Waters blamed both NATO and Ukraine for the war. He wrote an open letter to Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska this month in which he blamed “radical nationalists” in Ukraine for “putting your country on the path to to this disastrous war.” He also criticized the West for supplying arms to Ukraine, especially blaming Washington.
Wantuch wrote in his open message to Waters that with his 2.6 million social media followers, he has influence on many minds.
“You are calling on the West to stop military aid, which in effect means surrendering to Ukraine,” Wantuch wrote. “Ukraine will not give up, they will fight, but for people like you, for what you say and write, it will be a much harder fight.”
