The Hungarian government has submitted a new bill to Parliament that would pave the way for the most comprehensive disclosure yet of Communist-era state security files, fulfilling what it describes as a promise left unfulfilled since the country’s democratic transition more than three decades ago.

According to the government’s statement, the legislation was finalised after a public consultation and seeks to replace previous piecemeal measures with an entirely new legal framework governing the disclosure of documents created by the Communist dictatorship’s secret services.

Government aims for greater transparency with opening Communist-era files

The cabinet argues that previous governments have repeatedly attempted to uncover the activities of the Communist-era state security apparatus since the regime change, but none of those initiatives proved either comprehensive or successful.

It said the continued secrecy surrounding the identities and activities of informants who monitored innocent citizens has undermined public trust in state institutions and politicians. The government maintains that confronting the country’s past and ensuring the transparency of public institutions are essential pillars of a democratic state governed by the rule of law.

According to the proposal, the legislation is intended to restore public confidence, provide moral redress for victims of the Communist regime and deepen historical understanding by making agent files available to the public as extensively as possible.

Historical archives to make records widely accessible

A key element of the bill is the expanded role of the Historical Archives of the State Security Services. The institution would be tasked with making previously classified documents available in the simplest and broadest possible way.

To facilitate public access, the government plans to launch a dedicated online platform where documents can be searched and viewed digitally.

Parliament has already approved preparatory measures for the disclosure process through earlier legislation. The newly submitted bill is designed to regulate the entire process from publication to data protection.

Disclosure to happen in several stages

The government also outlined a timetable for releasing the records. The first documents expected to become publicly available will be the so-called “six cards” (hatos kartonok) and the notorious magnetic tape archives, shortly before the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

The six cards contain information relating to the recruitment of informants into the Communist-era surveillance network. Meanwhile, the magnetic tapes are digital copies created in January 1990 containing several state security databases:

  • the G database, covering operational records;
  • the H database, containing the network register of informants; and
  • the K database, the Central Counterintelligence Registry.

According to the government, these databases were copied onto magnetic tapes without systematic organisation at the time.

Throughout the remainder of the year, authorities plan to gradually publish the surviving B dossiers, which include recruitment files, evaluations of recruited individuals, the identities of people connected to the network and records indicating from whom informants gathered intelligence.

Privacy safeguards remain part of the process

Before any material is published, officials will review the documents to determine whether disclosure would infringe the fundamental rights, privacy or human dignity of individuals mentioned in the files. Particularly sensitive personal information—including details concerning an individual’s health, pathological addictions or sexual orientation—will only be made accessible under strict legal conditions.

The government says the legislation seeks to strike a balance between the public interest in understanding the past, academic freedom, individuals’ rights to informational self-determination and the protection of national security interests that remain relevant today.

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A promise dating back to the democratic transition

The government says the legislation represents a significant step towards historical accountability and will help both researchers and the wider public better understand Hungary’s Communist past.

By opening the archives, the cabinet argues it is delivering on a commitment first made during the democratic transition more than 30 years ago, while creating a legal framework intended to reconcile transparency with privacy protections and national security considerations.

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