News at Eleven: It is with no small irony that the award

[Lawrence] Ferlinghetti has declined, the Janus Pannonius International Poetry Prize, is from the Hungarian division of PEN. PEN is an international organization that supports the freedom to write internationally, and often campaigns to help writers who have been imprisoned or silenced.

Ferlinghetti learned that the prize was partially funded by the Hungarian government and wrote a letter expressing his concerns.

from Los Angeles Times: Lawrence Ferlinghetti declines Hungarian award over human rights
then Times of Israel: Lawrence Ferlinghetti turns down literary prize due to human rights concerns
then Arutz Sheva: American Poet Turns Down Hungarian Award

~~~~~~~~~~~