Hungary to Disclose Communist-Era Informant Records
The rollout will publish 50,000 to 60,000 names in stages, as officials say the move fulfills a long-delayed pledge to open secret police files.
- On November 4, Hungary will begin publishing tens of thousands of communist-era informant records via a new online database. Prime Minister Peter Magyar called this a key pledge of the "2026 regime change," settling a 36-year debt to those surveilled or blackmailed.
- The release date marks the 70th anniversary of the Soviet suppression of the 1956 revolution. Hungary remains the last major former Soviet-bloc country in Central and Eastern Europe to fully declassify comprehensive secret police records.
- Gergo Bendeguz Cseh, director-general of the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security Services, expects around 50,000 records to be published. However, only one in ten detailed files have survived due to historical looting and destruction.
- Prime Minister Peter Magyar urged citizens to approach the disclosures with understanding, noting people may find relatives among those named. He stated, "We must learn to ask the right questions, confront what happened and find the strength to listen to the answers."
- The release process will continue until February 25, 2027, the memorial day for victims of communism. Successive governments previously resisted opening archives, fearing the material could be used to discredit or blackmail political opponents.
25 Articles
25 Articles
연합뉴스-Yonhap News Agency
korean-vibe.com(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Im Hwa-seop = The new government in Hungary has decided to publicly disclose the names of "informants" who collaborated with the security police during the communist era.
The Hungarian government has fully released online the list of 50,000 secret police informants who were active during the communist dictatorship from 1945 to 1989. This initiative was driven by the Magyar Peter administration's promise to set history straight, and the list is available for search and viewing by any citizen. This measure was implemented to shed light on the dark aspects of modern Hungarian history and to guarantee the right to kn…
The new Hungarian government will reveal on Wednesday the names of tens of thousands of state informants from the communist period, in an attempt to confront the past and restore public confidence.
Hungary's government will release the names of tens of thousands of state security whistleblowers from the communist era on Wednesday, in an attempt to confront the past and restore public trust.
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