Hungary opened records listing about 60,000 informers and people officials tried to recruit
Hungary released secret police files on Nov. 4, including about 60,000 names of informants and people the police tried to recruit, Nasha Niva reported. Prime Minister Péter Magyar said the opening fulfilled a promise made during Hungary's 1990 regime change. State security archive estimates cited by Hürriyet put informants at 150,000 over four decades, with records surviving for about a third.
More context
On Nov. 4, Hungary opened communist-era secret police records listing about 60,000 informers and people officials had tried to recruit, Nasha Niva reported. The move, spearheaded by Prime Minister Péter Magyar, came more than 36 years after the communist regime’s collapse. At a briefing at the state security archives, Magyar described the release as fulfilling a central pledge made during Hungary's 1990 regime change that he said was later denied and lied about. He said restrictions on public access had enabled political hysteria, blackmail, pressure and silencing. Hürriyet Daily News said state archive estimates indicate that four decades of secret police work involved 150,000 informants, with files left for only roughly one in three. Some files are believed to have been destroyed during the 1956 uprising or hidden during the transition to democracy; others may have been taken to Moscow.
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Reporting
- Proto Thema — Hungary opens the files of the Communist Secret Police
- Hürriyet Daily News — Hungary opens communist-era informer files - World News
- Nasha Niva — Hungary Opens Communist-Era Informer Archives After 36 Years
Verifier’s note
ProtoThema, Hürriyet Daily News, and Nasha Niva each report Hungary’s release of communist-era secret-police or informer files on Nov. 4, decades after the regime fell. Their reports match the proposed event, and none indicates that the release is an older event.