The documents concern the activities of Hungary’s secret services during what Magyar described as the period of “socialist dictatorship” between 1945 and 1989.
Hungary will open the archives of its former communist-era secret police, Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced, setting November 4 as the date for fulfilling one of the key election promises made by his Tisza party.
The documents concern the activities of Hungary’s secret services during what Magyar described as the period of “socialist dictatorship” between 1945 and 1989.
“In fulfilment of one of the key promises of the Tisza party, we will release the secret police files from the period of the socialist dictatorship on November 4,” the Hungarian prime minister said.
Magyar acknowledged that opening the archives would be painful for many individuals and families but stressed that confronting historical truths was essential for genuine political change.
“This will be a difficult and sensitive issue for many families, but without confronting the past, there can be no real political change,” he stated.
The decision addresses one of the most sensitive issues in Hungary’s modern history: access to information about the activities of the communist security services, their networks of informants and the mechanisms of political surveillance and repression.
Opening the archives also raises questions about the responsibility of those who collaborated with the former repressive apparatus and the right of the public and affected families to learn the truth about the past.
The November 4 release forms part of Tisza’s broader commitment to transparency and reassessing the legacy of communist rule in Hungary. | BGNES