Kanye West given green light for Dutch performances

US rapper Kanye West, who has faced bans at several European venues due to his contentious antisemitic remarks, is slated to perform in the Netherlands for two concerts in June, according to officials who made the announcement on Friday.

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The 48-year-old rapper, also known as "Ye", has ignited widespread outrage with his remarks glorifying Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and his antisemitic outbursts, which he attributes to his struggles with bipolar disorder.

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A permit has been granted by Ahmed Marcouch, the mayor of the eastern city of Arnhem, allowing the June concerts to proceed, despite what he termed "reprehensible statements" made by the artist in the past.

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The Dutch House of Representatives had largely called for the rapper to be denied entry into the country, but asylum and migration minister Bart van den Brink stated that there were no formal legal grounds to bar him from entering the Netherlands.

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Van den Brink explained that "you need clear reasons to bar people from your country, and we did not find those in the analyses that were conducted", highlighting the lack of a valid basis for denying West entry.

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Kanye West is scheduled to perform in Arnhem on June 6 and 8, with the latter date coinciding with the rapper's birthday, and he is also set to appear in Istanbul on May 30.

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However, his extreme statements and actions, including the release of a song called "Heil Hitler" and the advertisement of swastika T-shirts on his website, have sparked a significant backlash against his planned European tour.

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In April, the British government prohibited him from entering the country to headline a festival, resulting in the cancellation of the event by the organizers.

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A week later, West postponed a concert in Marseille following reports that France's interior minister was seeking to block the performance.

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A Polish stadium cancelled a West concert scheduled for June 19, with the culture minister stating that Poland aimed to bar him due to his "promotion of Nazism".

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Swiss football club FC Basel also turned down an approach about hosting a West concert, further highlighting the controversy surrounding the rapper's tour.

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In January, West took out an advert in the Wall Street Journal to defend himself, stating "I am not a Nazi or an antisemite" and "I love Jewish people", and attributing his behavior to a manic episode brought on by bipolar disorder.

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West is also scheduled to perform in the Albanian capital Tirana on July 11, and in Prague on July 25, as part of his European tour.