Hungary wants to open archives of communist secret services: bill submitted to parliament

A bill to declassify the archives of the communist secret services has been submitted to the Hungarian National Assembly. This was announced by the country’s Prime Minister, Peter Magyar, on June 24.

According to the head of government, the opening of the archives is the fulfillment of a long-standing promise to society and the historical duty of the state to the Hungarian people.

The document provides for the creation of an independent commission, which will include current secret service employees, historians and archivists. It will determine which materials can be made public and which should remain classified.

At the same time, the bill significantly narrows the grounds for maintaining secrecy. If previously documents could not be declassified due to possible harm to the foreign relations of Hungary in general, now such a restriction will apply only in cases where relations with countries of the European Union, the European Economic Area or NATO are at stake.

The parliament is expected to quickly adopt the law, since Magyar’s party has a constitutional majority.

The government plans to open the archives by October 23, 2026, the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising.

Hungary remains one of the few former Soviet bloc countries that has yet to fully open its communist-era archives to the public.