Hungary Releases Communist Era Files Revealing Secret Informant Names

Hungary published secret police files on the Nyitott Aktak website identifying approximately 60,000 individuals recruited by communist operatives either voluntarily or by force from roughly 1945 to 1989.

Documents from the publication Elet es Irodalom indicated that Paskai gathered reports on Catholic Church members from 1965 to 1974. Vatican press statements from 2006 noted Paskai previously maintained that his actions served the good of the Church and that engaging with state powers was a necessary evil. Kiss-Rigó denied acting as an informant and won a 2009 defamation case against media claims involving historian Krisztián Ungváry, who was ordered to pay one million forints.

Beer stated he was unaware at the time of his registration in the network and never submitted reports. Additional files released in the database also named a Fidesz Member of Parliament by mistake.