European Network of Official Authorities in Charge of Secret Police Files took place in Bucharest

The annual meeting of the European Network of Official Authorities in Charge of Secret Police Files took place in Bucharest, Romania, from 7 to 9 October 2026. This year’s meeting was organised by Romania’s National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives (CNSAS). Established in December 2008, the Network provides a platform for cooperation between archival institutions that hold the records of former communist secret police services. Czech Security Services Archive (ABS) is one of its founding members.

Representatives of archival institutions from Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Romania discussed current developments, challenges and joint projects. The discussions also covered the use of artificial intelligence in archival work. Bendeguz Cseh, Director of Hungary’s Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security (ABTL), reported that lists containing the names of between 50,000 and 60,000 people who collaborated with the Hungarian communist secret police are due to be published in early November 2026 and February 2027. New legislation liberalising public access to files will come into force alongside the publication. The Hungarian archives have also received increased funding and staffing from the new government.

The Polish delegation, led by IPN Archive Director Ms Marzena Kruk, presented the online project sovietblocksecurity.eu, in which ABS is also an active participant. The portal provides access to digitised documents from multilateral meetings of the communist secret services of the Soviet bloc, covering political subversion, intelligence, counterintelligence and the Church. The project was launched under an agreement reached by the Network’s member institutions in 2013, and its content continues to grow. The Polish partner called on all organisations to update their data and promote the portal more actively within their institutions.

The professional programme included a visit to the unique exhibition A.REST 1989 at the National Museum in Bucharest. The exhibition draws on a remarkable collection of 26 surviving video tapes made by the Romanian secret police, the Securitate. Through original artefacts and audiovisual recordings from special cells, it authentically reconstructs the interrogation practices of the totalitarian regime in the late 1980s.

The meeting concluded with a visit to the host institution’s archives at CNSAS. The organisation holds approximately 29 kilometres of records of the former Securitate and is preparing to take custody of a further 10 kilometres of documents in the coming years. Representatives of partner institutions were able to learn in detail about the work of an organisation that plays a crucial role in Romania’s efforts to come to terms with its communist past.

The Network’s next annual meeting will take place in Bulgaria in 2027, hosted by the country’s archives at COMDOS. In 2028, the Slovak Nation’s Memory Institute (ÚPN) will take over as organiser. The Czech Republic was represented by Juraj Melioris, Deputy Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Romania, and Peter Rendek of ABS.

About the European Network

The main aim of the European Network of Official Authorities in Charge of Secret Police Files is to foster cooperation and exchange experience in the areas of preserving, providing access to and researching archival records, as well as coordinating approaches to historical and political education and public relations. The Network comprises eight full members from Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, and five associated members (observers) from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Ukraine. Moldova has become the Network’s newest observer member.