Calls to cancel Roger Waters’ Germany concerts

A cross-party group of politicians in Germany have joined forces to demand the cancellation of Roger Waters’ upcoming gig in Cologne due to the Pink Floyd co-founder’s comments on the war in Ukraine.

According to DW, councillors have sent an open letter to management of the city’s Lanxess Arena – where the 79-year-old is due to perform on 9 May – calling on them to “to do everything they can to prevent the concert”.

Invited by Moscow to address the UN Security Council via video link earlier this month, Waters used the platform to condemn Russia’s “illegal” invasion of Ukraine “in the strongest possible terms”, but repeated his claim that it “was not unprovoked, so I also condemn the provocateurs in the strongest possible terms”.

“The only sensible course of action today is to call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine,” he added.

Last year, two scheduled concerts in Poland by Waters were cancelled amid controversy over his comments on the Ukraine war

An alliance of Jewish groups is also reportedly calling for the cancellation of Waters’ 28 May show at Festhalle Frankfurt, after accusing the artist of antisemitism. Waters is also scheduled to perform in Germany at Barclays Arena in Hamburg (7 May), Mercedes Benz Arena in Berlin (17-18 May) and Munich’s Olympiahalle (21 May).

Last year, two scheduled concerts in Poland by Waters were cancelled amid controversy over his comments on the Ukraine war.

Waters, who was due to perform at Tauron Arena in Krakow in April this year as part of his This Is Not a Drill Tour, wrote an open letter to Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska, in which he claimed “extreme nationalists” had “set your country on the path to this disastrous war”. He also criticised the west for supplying Ukraine with weapons.

The letter prompted an angry response, with Krakow city councillor Łukasz Wantuch urging people to boycott the gigs.

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