KRAKOW (CelebrityAccess) — Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters sparked controversy in Poland after his comments on the war in Ukraine prompted promoters in the region to cancel two of his shows.
Waters was scheduled to perform a pair of shows at Tauron Arena in Krakow on April 21 and 22 as part of his solo farewell “This Is Not A Drill” tour.
However, the host venues canceled the performances following a Twitter exchange between Waters and Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska. The exchange began with an open letter to Zelenska that Rogers published on September 4th, in which he accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of failing to live up to campaign promises to end conflict in the region and were in part responsible for the Russian invasion in February.
“One can only assume that your husband’s electoral policies didn’t sit well with certain political factions in Kiev and that those factions persuaded your husband to diametrically change course ignoring the peoples mandate. Sadly, your old man agreed to those totalitarian, anti-democratic dismissals of the will of the Ukrainian people, and the forces of extreme nationalism that had lurked, malevolent, in the shadows, have, since then, ruled the Ukraine,” Waters wrote.
“They have, also since then, crossed any number of red lines that had been set out quite clearly over a number of years by your neighbors the Russian Federation and in consequence they, the extreme nationalists, have set your country on the path to this disastrous war,” he continued.
Zelenska responded by noting that it was Russian who invaded Ukraine, noting “If we give up – we will not exist tomorrow. If the Russian Federation gives up – war will be over. @rogerwaters, you’d better ask RF’s President for peace. Not Ukraine.”
Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine, has been a staunch supporter of their neighbor since the beginning of the Russian invasion and following the social media exchange, the Associated Press reported that the Krakow City Council is preparing a vote to declare Waters a persona non grata in the city.
On Saturday, Waters addressed the cancellation, dispelling rumors that he and his team were behind the decision to pull the plug on the shows and that it was a “sad loss for me, because I have been looking forward to sharing my message of love with the people of Poland.”
