Clarification or Instrumentalisation?
Newspapers are discussing the right way of dealing with the files of former communist secret services, unmasking prominent informers and calling for political consequences.
euro|topics-Dossiers on the subject of former communist secret services
Main focus of Wednesday, 23. May 2007
The attempts to confront the communist past in Poland have sparked a new scandal. A Polish weekly has revealed that the internationally renowned Polish reporter ... » more
The attempts to confront the communist past in Poland have sparked a new scandal. A Polish weekly has revealed that the internationally renowned Polish reporter Ryszard Kapuscinski wrote reports for the communist secret police. Why did Kapuscinski, who died last January, remain silent all these years? And will his case now be used as a political instrument in the current debate?
More from the press review on the subject » History, » Poland
All available articles from » Markus Völker
Main focus of Tuesday, 15. May 2007
On Friday, 11 May 2007, the Polish constitutional court declared the controversial lustration law, under which large sections of Polish society would be forced to ... » more
On Friday, 11 May 2007, the Polish constitutional court declared the controversial lustration law, under which large sections of Polish society would be forced to reveal any past collaboration with the former communist secret service, unconstitutional in several points. Most European commentators hail this as a victory for the rule of law in Poland, while in Poland itself a debate has emerged about whether the general public should be given access to the secret service archives.
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » History, » Poland
All available articles from » Konrad Schuller
Main focus of Thursday, 26. April 2007
The European Member of Parliament Bronislaw Geremek may have his European mandate taken away from him because he has refused to obey the 'lustration' law. ... » more
The European Member of Parliament Bronislaw Geremek may have his European mandate taken away from him because he has refused to obey the 'lustration' law. He considers that this legislation recently adopted by the Polish government is a threat to the freedom of individuals. His stance is approved by the main political leaders of the European Parliament.
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » History, » Poland, » Europe
All available articles from » Pol Mathil
Main focus of Thursday, 15. March 2007
Today, a new law requiring journalists, university lecturers, teachers, lawyers and politicians to reveal any past collaboration with communist era secret services enters force in ... » more
Today, a new law requiring journalists, university lecturers, teachers, lawyers and politicians to reveal any past collaboration with communist era secret services enters force in Poland. The highly controversial "lustration law" goes further than all previous attempts to confront the past in Eastern Europe and is on par with Germany's law on Stasi files.
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Poland
Main focus of Friday, 12. January 2007
Up to now, Poland has confronted its communist past only hesitantly. But the withdrawal of Warsaw Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus from his post has fanned the ... » more
Up to now, Poland has confronted its communist past only hesitantly. But the withdrawal of Warsaw Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus from his post has fanned the flames of debate about the workings of Poland's former Security Service. Critics fear that this compromising legacy will be used for political purposes.
More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » History, » Weltanschauung, » Poland
Main focus of Monday, 8. January 2007
Poland is going through a dramatic crisis with its Catholic Church: » more
Poland is going through a dramatic crisis with its Catholic Church: Stanislaw Wielgus was supposed to have been inaugurated yesterday as the new Archbishop of Warsaw. But after confirming his collaboration with the former communist secret service he turned down the new office. Commentators ask how the Church is dealing with its past in Poland and in other eastern European countries.
More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Weltanschauung, » Poland
General
Dnevnik - Bulgaria | Friday, 1. June 2007
In Romania former members of the Securitate play an active role in everyday politics and in Bulgaria, former secret police members are running for election ... » more
In Romania former members of the Securitate play an active role in everyday politics and in Bulgaria, former secret police members are running for election to the European Parliament. Is Europe witnessing a revival of KGB ideology ? asks commentator Alexander Andreew. "It's no coincidence that the only European politician who dares to voice her opinion about Putin's system is Angela Merkel, who grew up in socialist GDR. Like millions of Eastern Europeans she can distinguish between official democratic government and secret power... I don't know whether there will be a new Cold War but I'm convinced that the societies that continue to tolerate the despotism and arrogance of the so-called Chekists [the name given to members of the secret services in the states of the Warsaw Pact] are in danger of being disgraced within democratic Europe and also of falling victim to a creeping restoration like the one in Russia."
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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Alexander Andreew
The Irish Times - Ireland | Friday, 13. April 2007
"Last month, the biggest German daily, the 'Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung', published an article in which Bogdan Musial, a Polish historian, revealed renowned Polish-British sociologist Zygmunt ... » more
"Last month, the biggest German daily, the 'Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung', published an article in which Bogdan Musial, a Polish historian, revealed renowned Polish-British sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, one of the prophets of postmodernism and author of sociological bestsellers, once worked as an agent for the Stalinist military secret service", notes Andreas Hess, a senior lecturer in sociology. "It should not come as a surprise that Bauman's hidden past is so passionately debated in continental Europe. Despite their adversarial history, Germans and Poles are very critical when revelations come out about the fascist and communist pasts of their intellectuals.The public attitude in continental Europe differs considerably from countries such as Britain and Ireland which were never under the spell of either fascism or Stalinism. Here in Ireland, it is still possible to read the lamentations of an unreconstructed communist like the historian Eric Hobsbawm who celebrated the Stalinist line taken during the Spanish Civil War - and to let him get away with it."
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More from the press review on the subject » History, » Europe
All available articles from » Andreas Hess
L'Hebdo - Switzerland | Thursday, 22. March 2007
The Swiss columnist Jacques Pilet reviews the Polish law on lustration which came in to effect on the 15th March which will mean hundreds of thousands of Polish people having to reveal that they collaborated with the communist secret services. "No other East European country has gone this far and with good reason: » more
The Swiss columnist Jacques Pilet reviews the Polish law on lustration which came in to effect on the 15th March which will mean hundreds of thousands of Polish people having to reveal that they collaborated with the communist secret services. "No other East European country has gone this far and with good reason: anyone familiar with the communist dictatorship knows how it managed to compromise independent personalities through blackmail, intimidation and lies. Not everyone was a hero. Many believed in the Utopia. To punish their weakness or the historical error of such a large number of citizens almost twenty years later, will not purify the country but will open the door to new injustices. No one objects to the fact that the leaders of past regimes are cold shouldered. To institute a new McCarthyism is to move towards totalitarianism. … Most disturbing is the feebleness of the reaction, both in Poland and elsewhere. … Poland is slowly slipping towards totalitarianism observed wearily by Europeans and with delight by the American neocons."
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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Poland, » Europe
All available articles from » Jacques Pilet
România Liberă - Romania | Tuesday, 20. March 2007
Political expert Cristian Pirvulescu comments on the "lustration law" - a Polish law that requires members of certain groups of the population to reveal former collaboration with the communist secret services - in the context of the efforts of other countries of the former Eastern Bloc to review their communist past. The law entered force a week ago. "Anti-communism is definitely on the political agenda in the countries of Eastern Europe, albeit to differing degrees. In those countries where governments have been formed on the basis of coalitions with former communist parties (Hungary and Bulgaria) the passion for 'lustration' is relatively weak, whereas in other countries you have the opposite situation (Poland and the Czech Republic). In Romania, enthusiasm for confronting the past has ebbed since the country joined the EU and the political crisis has finished it off: » more
Political expert Cristian Pirvulescu comments on the "lustration law" - a Polish law that requires members of certain groups of the population to reveal former collaboration with the communist secret services - in the context of the efforts of other countries of the former Eastern Bloc to review their communist past. The law entered force a week ago. "Anti-communism is definitely on the political agenda in the countries of Eastern Europe, albeit to differing degrees. In those countries where governments have been formed on the basis of coalitions with former communist parties (Hungary and Bulgaria) the passion for 'lustration' is relatively weak, whereas in other countries you have the opposite situation (Poland and the Czech Republic). In Romania, enthusiasm for confronting the past has ebbed since the country joined the EU and the political crisis has finished it off: not a single moral reform or political project that had to do with lustration has been carried through. The president's condemnation of communism was just an exercise in rhetoric."
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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » History, » Poland, » Eastern Europe, » Romania
All available articles from » Cristian Pîrvulescu
Poland
Gazeta Wyborcza - Poland | Tuesday, 12. June 2007
On Sunday the former Polish President and labour leader Lech Walesa published 500 pages of his secret service files on his homepage. For two years ... » more
On Sunday the former Polish President and labour leader Lech Walesa published 500 pages of his secret service files on his homepage. For two years he has been receiving the documents from the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN). The former Polish secret police collected a total of 70 volumes on Walesa, but the most important documents were destroyed in August 1980. In an interview with Krzysztof Katka, he explains why he has taken this step. "I close my eyes and throw the papers to the world. People should read them and decide for themselves... I want to understand how my victory was possible. Was it an angel or a devil who helped me?" Walesa has declined to publish a list of the names of the estimated 1000 secret service agents who spied on him for now, "because each case is different. I haven't the energy to attack them or to injure them. Naturally I run the risk of being accused of being too soft on them, but what can I do? Priests and even a bishop are on that list."
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All available articles from » Krzysztof Katka, » Lech Wałęsa
Gazeta Wyborcza - Poland | Saturday, 12. May 2007
Last Friday Poland's constitutional court repealed most of what is known as the lustration law, which is aimed at uncovering cooperation with the former communist ... » more
Last Friday Poland's constitutional court repealed most of what is known as the lustration law, which is aimed at uncovering cooperation with the former communist secret service. It also ruled that leftwing liberal EMP Bronislaw Geremek should not be dismissed from office. Jaroslaw Kurski comments on the move in the 'Gazeta Wyborcza', which opposed the law from the very beginning. "In the course of the trial it has become clear that the governing PiS party [Law and Justice Party] wanted to use secret service files to strengthen its rule. It even - unsuccessfully - tried to use them against the judges of the court. The court has taught the party a hard lesson in matters pertaining to the rule of law. It has demonstrated the difference between justice and revenge, between purging and retribution. This is a terrible defeat for the PiS. The judges have not only destroyed the showpiece project of the entire lustration-law camp, they have created a solid and inviolable constitutional foundation for the lustration law. The court resisted the considerable pressure exerted on it by the PiS and defended the rule of law in Poland. For this the judges deserve our respect and gratitude."
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All available articles from » Jarosław Kurski
Dziennik Gazeta Prawna - Poland | Friday, 11. May 2007
The dispute is escalating over Poland's lustration law, according to which 700,000 Poles have to turn in a declaration regarding their possible secret service work. On Thursday, one day before the Constitutional Court was to deliver its verdict on the law, the government recalled two constitutional judges, saying they had worked for the secret service. Editor in chief Robert Krasowski is furious about this "war of lustration": » more
The dispute is escalating over Poland's lustration law, according to which 700,000 Poles have to turn in a declaration regarding their possible secret service work. On Thursday, one day before the Constitutional Court was to deliver its verdict on the law, the government recalled two constitutional judges, saying they had worked for the secret service. Editor in chief Robert Krasowski is furious about this "war of lustration": "What happened yesterday is outrageous. How can one organ of power control another? Only to intimidate it and force the other into making a decision that is favourable to itself? This is an unprecedented scandal... Even if the charge eventually is confirmed that the expelled judges were agents, the manner in which this was released - with demonstrative brutality and obvious political interest - is unacceptable in a constitutional state."
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Le Monde - France | Friday, 27. April 2007
"On several occasions I have had to sign declarations stating that I never collaborated with the [communist] secret services", explains the Member of European Parliament ... » more
"On several occasions I have had to sign declarations stating that I never collaborated with the [communist] secret services", explains the Member of European Parliament Bronislaw Geremek in the opinion pages of the daily. "I also did so in 2004, when presenting myself in the European elections. But in March 2007, I was asked once again to sign such a declaration under penalty of being deprived of my MEP mandate. It is true that this is a humiliating and unfounded demand, but that is not the reason for my refusal to cooperate. Through this refusal I want to express my position regarding the new [lustration] law. I find it unacceptable in a democratic Europe. ... I would like my refusal to make the authorities consider and respond to the moral concerns of citizens. ... I am not pleading for my personal cause. I am pleading for a democratic and European Poland. "
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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Poland, » Europe
All available articles from » Bronislaw Geremek
Rzeczpospolita - Poland | Wednesday, 21. March 2007
The newspaper cites the reaction of the European press to the 'lustration law', the new Polish law requiring certain sectors of the population to reveal any cooperation with communist secret services. Reactions have been almost universally negative. Rafal Ziemkiewicz comments sarcastically: » more
The newspaper cites the reaction of the European press to the 'lustration law', the new Polish law requiring certain sectors of the population to reveal any cooperation with communist secret services. Reactions have been almost universally negative. Rafal Ziemkiewicz comments sarcastically: "Nowadays there is neither democracy nor freedom of expression in Poland. The prisons are filling up with prisoners of conscience, the stakes are being set alight, and after only a few years of freedom instruments of torture are rattling as they are made ready for use. At least that's the impression Western newspapers are conveying... There is continuous demand for everything that describes Poland as a 'right-wing dictatorship'... There have been lustration laws in most of the countries that were freed from communism. Germany's laws went much further than the one now introduced in Poland. It's sad that even German newspapers appear to have forgotten this."
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All available articles from » Rafal A. Ziemkiewicz
El Periódico de Catalunya - Spain | Friday, 16. March 2007
The daily considers that the lustration process launched in Poland on March 15th is a "witch hunt" with authorities asking hundreds of thousands of Poles ... » more
The daily considers that the lustration process launched in Poland on March 15th is a "witch hunt" with authorities asking hundreds of thousands of Poles if they collaborated with former Communist secret services. "This measure, the first of its kind, goes against European doctrine in matters of human rights and against the respect of individual freedom present in all democratic systems. This is the latest chapter of an anti-communist and nationalist crusade launched by the extreme right-wing party Law and Justice (PiS), serving the Kaczynski brothers, a hub of the worst xenophobic tradition in Eastern Europe. ... These absurdities are clearly embarrassing the EU. The time has perhaps come to give Poland the same treatment that Austria was given [in 2000] when it was being run by the Christian-Democrats and the extremist Jörg Haider, in order to cool down its fervour."
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Polityka Online - Poland | Wednesday, 28. February 2007
Poland has been eagerly awaiting the publication of Father Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski's 600-page book "The Priests in the Face of the Secret Service". Yesterday the book finally went on sale. It documents how four clergymen who later became bishops cooperated with the Polish secret police, but also how two who are now cardinals refused to collaborate despite reprisals. According to Adam Szostkiewicz, the book is of major importance: » more
Poland has been eagerly awaiting the publication of Father Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski's 600-page book "The Priests in the Face of the Secret Service". Yesterday the book finally went on sale. It documents how four clergymen who later became bishops cooperated with the Polish secret police, but also how two who are now cardinals refused to collaborate despite reprisals. According to Adam Szostkiewicz, the book is of major importance: "This book aroused great interest long before its publication - both because of the subject matter and because of its author. Many commentators regard Father Zaleski as the father of the lustration of the Church and his book as exemplary of how to write about this chapter of the church's post-war history. For others, including some priests and believers, the publication, although inevitable, could represent a painful and controversial lesson - a lesson that raises many doubts about both the method and the conclusions. Many regard the book as the beginning, not the end, of the church's problems with its image."
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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » History, » Weltanschauung, » Poland
All available articles from » Adam Szostkiewicz
Dziennik Gazeta Prawna - Poland | Friday, 19. January 2007
Poland is currently absorbed in debate about the spying activities of the former communist secret service, SB. In her 2005 book "Oblawa" (the hunt), author ... » more
Poland is currently absorbed in debate about the spying activities of the former communist secret service, SB. In her 2005 book "Oblawa" (the hunt), author Joanna Siedlecka describes how the secret service treated writers. She tells Maciej Urbanowski that the heads of the Polish writers' association in particular have avoided looking back at their involvement in the secret service. "Because it was not true that the security service itself spied on and destroyed writers... It was the committees, the leading intellectuals and the establishment who eliminated the rebels and in that way served the purposes of the Secret Service. Mostly, their actions had nothing to do with literature, but everything to do with apartments, power, jobs and travel privileges. Writers who were prepared to collaborate received honours in the People's Republic. They had apartments in the Aleja Roz or Iwicka Street - a marvellous life... Writers destroyed other writers. The SB, the Party or the Interior Ministry only set the rules."
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More from the press review on the subject » Literature, » History, » Poland
Dziennik Gazeta Prawna - Poland | Friday, 5. January 2007
On Sunday, Stanislaw Wielgus is to take over the position of Archbishop of Warsaw from Józef Cardinal Glemp. This week, numerous media outlets have published the old secret service files on Wielgus that are housed at the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN). It turns out that for years, Wielgus spied on his fellow clergy as an informant for the communist secret service. Wielgus, until now Bishop of Plock, has denied the charges. The newspaper's editor in chief Robert Krasowski comments: » more
On Sunday, Stanislaw Wielgus is to take over the position of Archbishop of Warsaw from Józef Cardinal Glemp. This week, numerous media outlets have published the old secret service files on Wielgus that are housed at the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN). It turns out that for years, Wielgus spied on his fellow clergy as an informant for the communist secret service. Wielgus, until now Bishop of Plock, has denied the charges. The newspaper's editor in chief Robert Krasowski comments: "It will be a moral scandal if Wiegus becomes Archbishop... And to hold the inauguration at this moment in time, just a few days after his past has been revealed, will look like a special award for his lies and his services as informant. This is not about lustration. It is about principles."
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All available articles from » Robert Krasowski
Rzeczpospolita - Poland | Friday, 30. June 2006
A week ago the non-party Polish Finance Minister Zyta Gilowska resigned. She had been accused of having worked for the communist secret police, an accusation she had always denied. Following her resignation, the court leading the inquiries dropped the case because according to Polish law only politicians holding office are subject to investigation under the Lustration Law. The case has triggered a heated discussion about how to deal with the country's secret service past. Former Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski comments: » more
A week ago the non-party Polish Finance Minister Zyta Gilowska resigned. She had been accused of having worked for the communist secret police, an accusation she had always denied. Following her resignation, the court leading the inquiries dropped the case because according to Polish law only politicians holding office are subject to investigation under the Lustration Law. The case has triggered a heated discussion about how to deal with the country's secret service past. Former Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski comments: "The conclusion to be drawn from the entire affair is that we have a sick Lustration Law that needs to be thoroughly reassessed. Something must be very wrong when a prime minister is unable to learn the truth about the members of his government. I pity the prime minister, but above all I pity Gilowska. You can't blacken someone's name like this and then not give them the full opportunity to defend themselves."
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All available articles from » Wladyslaw Bartoszewski
Gazeta Wyborcza - Poland | Tuesday, 27. June 2006
The right-wing nationalist Polish government plans to introduce a law under which journalists are to be subjected to investigations aimed at establishing whether they had ... » more
The right-wing nationalist Polish government plans to introduce a law under which journalists are to be subjected to investigations aimed at establishing whether they had any connections with the Stasi in the past. Up to now, only politicians and leading civil servants have been obliged to submit to this kind of investigation. In future, all persons born before 1972 who earn more than half of their income through journalistic activities are only to be allowed to work after their past has been investigated. Krzysztof Lozinski, editor in chief of online magazine "Kontrateksty" objects heavily to the new law. "How are the investigators supposed to establish whether Internet journalists have already been investigated or not? Will officers come to the editorial offices? Which offices would that be? In December 2005 I edited 'Kontrateksty' from internet cafes in India and Nepal. Last weekend I worked with my laptop while on holiday at one of the Masurian lakes. And it's no problem to transfer the homepage to a server in the US. The Internet has already beaten censorship in China, Russia, Belarus and Vietnam."
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All available articles from » Krzysztof Lozinski
Gazeta Wyborcza - Poland | Saturday, 25. February 2006
The former activities of Catholic priests as spies have become the focal point of Poland's confrontation with its Stasi past. In an interview led by Michal Olszewski and Malgorzata Skowronska, Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek says the wrong priorities are being set: » more
The former activities of Catholic priests as spies have become the focal point of Poland's confrontation with its Stasi past. In an interview led by Michal Olszewski and Malgorzata Skowronska, Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek says the wrong priorities are being set: "The scrutiny of the past has reached fever pitch in Poland... The worst thing is that those who really should confess aren't doing so. The former secret service officers, those specialised in spying within the Church, the founders of the system – these people have no desire to purge themselves of their guilt. We began this scrutiny of the past by exposing the dramatic stories of people who are already broken."
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All available articles from » Tadeusz Pieronek
Heti Válasz - Hungary | Thursday, 12. January 2006
Poland will perhaps become the first country in Eastern Europe in which the change in system is resolutely carried through to its final consequences," columnist ... » more
Poland will perhaps become the first country in Eastern Europe in which the change in system is resolutely carried through to its final consequences," columnist Istvan Baba comments, after the new Polish government announced plans to reorganise the state security services. "In all the countries undergoing the process of transformation, Stasi bosses were given the task of integrating themselves into democracy under a new name. As a result, almost all the Stasi officers and officials have remained in positions in which they have performed impeccably over the past five decades. Even today, this force is still stretching its tentacles into all areas of social, economic and political life."
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Tribune de Genève - Switzerland | Tuesday, 9. January 2007
George Mink, a professor at the Polish branch of the College of Europe (Natolin), explains in an interview conducted by Jean-François Verdonnet how Poland ... » more
George Mink, a professor at the Polish branch of the College of Europe (Natolin), explains in an interview conducted by Jean-François Verdonnet how Poland is facing up to its past. "Those in power owe their election to the demand for resolute 'decommunisation'. Poland was the first country in Eastern Europe to detach itself from the Soviet block. At the time, the way out was negotiated in exchange for a policy of clemency towards all those who had served the Communist regime. However, the terms of the agreement have now been denounced by the majority. The long-deferred process of 'lustration' is now defended by leaders who also use it to position themselves on the political scene. This is running the risk indicated a little while ago by Jacek Kuron, the former leader of the democratic opposition who compared lustration to a 'grenade thrown into a cess pit, splattering all around for a long time'."
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Gazeta Wyborcza - Poland | Monday, 24. July 2006
In future many more people in Poland will have to prove that they did not collaborate with the secret services under communist rule. The Polish ... » more
In future many more people in Poland will have to prove that they did not collaborate with the secret services under communist rule. The Polish parliament has passed a new law, the so-called Lustration Law, which extends obligatory scrutiny of a person's past by the Polish Institute of National Memory (IPN) to diplomats, school directors, journalists, notaries, academics and directors of state-owned firms. In future, having worked as an agent or informant will constitute sufficient grounds for dismissal. Ewa Siedlecka criticises the new law. "In elections, ... when it comes to filling posts in the public sector and leading positions in the different government departments and agencies – and we're talking about between 100,000 and 150,000 important posts here – those who are under 35 will be at an advantage. They're the ones who won't need a certificate from the IPN. They're morally untarnished by birth, as it were. The PiS is pinning its hopes on the country's young generations."
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Rzeczpospolita - Poland | Friday, 20. October 2006
The issue of how the Catholic Church should deal with its past during the communist era and the spying activities of some of its priests ... » more
The issue of how the Catholic Church should deal with its past during the communist era and the spying activities of some of its priests is currently the subject of heated debate in Poland. Cardinal Jozef Glemp, the Primas of Poland, has now banned Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski, a Cracow priest, from continuing his research into the collaboration between members of the Polish clergy and Poland's former security service. Glemp has now commissioned an expert panel of historians to deal with the task. According to Jan Zaryn of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance, which is responsible for the prosecution of communist crimes, the Church misjudged the situation. "Not only historians but also victims are researching the documentary material. The victims proceed less predictably than the historians, but no less legally. They should have set up a commission of historians one or two years ago. Then the commission would have been able to examine the documents in peace. Now there's pressure from the media and from Father Isakowicz-Zaleski. They want names to be published as soon as possible."
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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » History, » Weltanschauung, » Poland
Rzeczpospolita - Poland | Friday, 30. December 2005
Acoording to Andrzej Kaczynski, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) will propbably set itself new goals now that Janusz Kurtyka has taken over as ... » more
Acoording to Andrzej Kaczynski, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) will propbably set itself new goals now that Janusz Kurtyka has taken over as president. Kurtyka yesterday replaced Leon Kieres, the founder of the institute who is unpopular with the conservative parliamentary majority. "The future of the IPN remains unclear. Will it continue to safeguard the archives and use them to prosecute national socialist and communist crimes, or will it be dedicated to purging Poland's political landscape of former secret service agents?"
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Germany
Die Zeit - Germany | Thursday, 8. November 2007
Eighteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, the German Bundestag is to vote on the construction of a monument ... » more
Eighteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, the German Bundestag is to vote on the construction of a monument to "unity and freedom". Brigitte Fehrle questions why all that was a genuine reminder of those times has been torn down in the years since the collapse of Communism. "Long before the West realised with what kind of a country it had reunified, the symbols had disappeared, beginning with the Wall. Naturally it had to come down, but was it right to tear it down completely? Then there's the Lenin Monument in Berlin. What could serve better to illustrate the fatally misguided direction the GDR took? Or the Palace of the Republic - a place that could have showcased life the rise and fall of the GDR, now reduced to a sombre steel skeleton. And the drive to obliterate continues. Many would love to see the Stasi records authority with its unique archive disappear. Yet this institution, with all its faults and shortcomings, is the most vivid monument to the GDR and the glory of unification."
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Die Presse - Austria | Friday, 15. December 2006
"The very authority that has been given the task of shedding light on the past of the GDR's secret service is riddled with former Stasi ... » more
"The very authority that has been given the task of shedding light on the past of the GDR's secret service is riddled with former Stasi functionaries," comments a scandalised Detlef Keinert. "In other words, the arsonists have been given the job of putting out the fire." Checks on the past of the authority's round 2,000 employees have revealed that 52 of them worked with the Stasi. This is a clear example of "how limited a constitutional state's powers are when it comes to reviewing a dictatorship. As the Federal Commissioner for the Records of the National Security Service of the Former German Democratic Republic Marianne Birthler has explained, the former Stasi associates were employed during the times of great upheaval following the fall of the Wall and it is now too late to dismiss them as 'the labour laws would not allow this'. She points out that each case should be judged individually and that it would be unfair to accuse all former Stasi collaborators of disloyalty. Nonetheless, this is hardly comforting news for the victims of the crimes."
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All available articles from » Detlef Kleinert
Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany | Thursday, 3. August 2006
The "Rosenholz files," compiled by the Stasi, were brought to the US after the Wall came down in 1989 and were handed over to the Germany's Stasi documentation authority in 2003. A research group began to decode them and parts of the files are now being released. Hans Leyendecker comments: » more
The "Rosenholz files," compiled by the Stasi, were brought to the US after the Wall came down in 1989 and were handed over to the Germany's Stasi documentation authority in 2003. A research group began to decode them and parts of the files are now being released. Hans Leyendecker comments: "It's still the usual suspects. No new names have come to light. The number of Stasi collaborators in the Bundestag was and remains within reason. Perhaps all the fuss was also because certain conservatives had hoped to rewrite the history of the vote of no confidence [against former German Chancellor Willy Brandt, 1972]. However, the files don't provide the evidence for this. This case shows that the worst scandals of the cold war era have already been cleared up. Most of those who acted as informants for the GDR's secret service have already been unmasked over the past few years. Rumours that the Rosenholz files handed over by the CIA would change the history of the two Germanys have proven false."
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Frankfurter Rundschau - Germany | Thursday, 20. July 2006
In Berlin, the privately-financed Museum zur DDR-Alltagskultur, a museum about every day life in the former GDR, has opened. Harry Nutt reviews the museum in ... » more
In Berlin, the privately-financed Museum zur DDR-Alltagskultur, a museum about every day life in the former GDR, has opened. Harry Nutt reviews the museum in the context of the ongoing debate about how to deal with the GDR past. "One argument put forward in this debate is that the authentic sites of GDR dictatorship are being pushed to one side to make way for kitschy reconstructions of everyday life featuring GDR traffic lights and culty Trabis. Unfortunately, this private museum is no exception in its portrayal of everyday GDR culture. The term "confronting the past" is too programmatic to be used to describe this harmless collection of exhibits. The bugged corner, which is supposed to represent the Stasi's surveillance apparatus, is quaintly reminiscent of the attempts of teenagers in East and West to get recordings of the latest rock songs on tape."
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Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany | Monday, 6. February 2006
Thomas Kistner examines why German sport is repeatedly caught up in doping scandals and Stasi file affairs. "The history of the German Democratic Republic has ... » more
Thomas Kistner examines why German sport is repeatedly caught up in doping scandals and Stasi file affairs. "The history of the German Democratic Republic has been sufficiently researched and analysed... but as far as sport was concerned, nothing of vital importance ever turned up, despite there being literally tons of Stasi files on its protagonists. And then a Stasi sport commission that has been twiddling its thumbs for eleven years suddenly discovers that ice-skating trainer Ingo Steuer used to be one of the organisation's top informants and was therefore unsuited for the task of training young athletes. The Ice-skating Association did as requested and appointed Monika Scheibe, whose Stasi files were just as thick – deception, cheating, lies. These are the foundations that the control state's leading sport was built on. Those who didn't cooperate with the Stasi were implicated in doping affairs – this double conspiracy distinguished sport from all other sections of social life."
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Hungary
Élet és Irodalom - Hungary | Friday, 27. April 2007
Hungary has a new secret police scandal. Last Friday journalist Péter Kende revealed in a weekly newspaper that former Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi delivered reports to the Hungarian secret police in the 1960s, and that secret police files confirmed this. According to the files, Martonyi wrote among other things reports on the Hungarian emigrant scene in Germany and France. Martonyi is a member of the right-wing conservative Fidesz party, which is constantly criticising the ruling Socialists for their past ties to the secret police. Kende comments: » more
Hungary has a new secret police scandal. Last Friday journalist Péter Kende revealed in a weekly newspaper that former Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi delivered reports to the Hungarian secret police in the 1960s, and that secret police files confirmed this. According to the files, Martonyi wrote among other things reports on the Hungarian emigrant scene in Germany and France. Martonyi is a member of the right-wing conservative Fidesz party, which is constantly criticising the ruling Socialists for their past ties to the secret police. Kende comments: "Is there anything more important than having a trustworthy foreign minister ? This is crucial, not only for the country's international reputation but also for the role of a politician in domestic politics. One must now doubt the personal integrity of János Martonyi." Kende writes that Martonyi admitted in an interview on April 16, 2007, that his code name had been IM "Marosvásárhelyi". After the article appeared, Martonyi refuted the allegations in an interview with the Hungarian press agency MTI."
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Neue Zürcher Zeitung - Switzerland | Tuesday, 20. February 2007
In Hungary only the secret service itself is allowed access to the secret files which originated during communist times. Ulrich Schmidt describes this as a ... » more
In Hungary only the secret service itself is allowed access to the secret files which originated during communist times. Ulrich Schmidt describes this as a serious problem, as the security service network of those times has never been broken and hundreds of files have been destroyed. "The fact that Hungary is years behind Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland in confronting its communist past has a lot to do with the comparatively lenient Kadar regime and the equally peaceful fall of communism in 1989/1990… The philologist Janos Kenedi, a former dissident and one of the founders of the Charter 77 [a petition launched by Czech celebrities opposed to the communist 'normalisation' project], points out that Hungary exchanged 'soft' Kadar communism for 'hard' democracy. He explains that as the Soviet Union's headquarters for money laundering, Hungary had a special status which among other things allowed it to deliberately violate the law. This is an attitude that still has a profound impact today. ... Blackmailed and compromised by an old elite, Hungary is paralysed and refuses to confront its past."
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Magyar Hírlap - Hungary | Tuesday, 30. January 2007
Political parties in Hungary yesterday began talks about a new law which would guarantee the public unrestricted access to Stasi files, while at the same time protecting the rights of victims of the organisation's spying activities. According to Balázs Stépán, the current law is "pathological" and "full of compromises" and therefore in urgent need of reform: » more
Political parties in Hungary yesterday began talks about a new law which would guarantee the public unrestricted access to Stasi files, while at the same time protecting the rights of victims of the organisation's spying activities. According to Balázs Stépán, the current law is "pathological" and "full of compromises" and therefore in urgent need of reform: "When it became known that former Prime Minister Medgyessy had worked for the secret service under the codename 'Comrade D-209', he promised full access to all Stasi files, but was forced to resign soon afterwards. His successor, Ferenc Gyurcsány, went back on this because anonymous letters – presumably from former functionaries of the secret service – put the socialist party under pressure. The letters stirred up fear, with the result that a completely harmless version of the law entered force... Access to the files was heavily restricted. The director of the national security service declared many files secret, and the Supreme Court approved the measure. Once again, the public was excluded."
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Magyar Hírlap - Hungary | Tuesday, 22. August 2006
György Petö, mayor of Budapest's Obuda district, has made a public statement that he worked for the former Hungarian Ministry of State Security's counterintelligence department ... » more
György Petö, mayor of Budapest's Obuda district, has made a public statement that he worked for the former Hungarian Ministry of State Security's counterintelligence department between 1979 and 1983. Andras Schiffer, spokesman for the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ), calls for Petö's resignation even though he did not actually work with Stasi spies. "There were no retributions after 1989. Former state security functionaries are entitled to take part in public life within the democracy. The principle of legality was maintained after the change of system but it has been taken too far. A clear distinction between dictatorship and rule of law, between the roles and functions of the times before 1989, forms the moral foundation of the new Republic. Functionaries of Hungary's former Ministry of State Security cannot be regarded as 'professionals' of a democratic constitutional state because back then they controlled the dictatorship."
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Magyar Hírlap - Hungary | Thursday, 17. August 2006
Julianna R. Szekely draws parallels between the debate about Günter Grass and the scandal when Istvan Szabo's past as a Stasi informant was revealed, and she defends both artists: » more
Julianna R. Szekely draws parallels between the debate about Günter Grass and the scandal when Istvan Szabo's past as a Stasi informant was revealed, and she defends both artists: "It's a terrible mistake to let an event in the life of an artist overshadow the value of his life's work. One of the things that make both Grass' and Szabo's works so wonderful is that they portray guilt and sin, defeat and triumph over life's problems, and not from a distanced, objective point of view but in a moving and intensely involved way." Szekely reserves her criticism for those who condemn Grass and Szabo. In her eyes they are hypocrites who act as if "they were born with pure souls, the products of an immaculate conception." Szekely argues that they, too, have sins on their conscience but unlike Grass never asked themselves the question: "Could you have understood back then the full implications of what you were doing?"
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Élet és Irodalom - Hungary | Friday, 26. May 2006
Hungarian historian Laszlo Varga calls for the Hungarian government to follow Germany's example and give the public access to Hungary's Stasi files: » more
Hungarian historian Laszlo Varga calls for the Hungarian government to follow Germany's example and give the public access to Hungary's Stasi files: "Joachim Gauck (the first federal commissioner for the files of the GDR's state security service) and his colleagues realised at the right moment how important it is for democracy to confront the past, to take peaceful possession of Stasi buildings and preserve Stasi files for posterity... They deprived state power of its monopoly on information... This was not possible in Hungary because here the Stasi used the 'police' as a cover and was intricately bound up with them. In Germany everybody knew where the Stasi 'lived', but we had no idea... Over the past ten years, those who were spied on have gained more and more rights and we historians have also been given greater freedom in our research, but the most important thing – access to the Stasi files and the frequently quoted confrontation with the past – has yet to happen."
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Élet és Irodalom - Hungary | Friday, 19. May 2006
People who have been exposed as former Stasi spies usually justify their actions by claiming they were forced to collaborate. Holding up renowned scientists and ... » more
People who have been exposed as former Stasi spies usually justify their actions by claiming they were forced to collaborate. Holding up renowned scientists and scholars as an example, historian Krisztian Ungvary argues that in actual fact they did have a certain amount of freedom of action. He points out that when historians György Ranki and Ferenc Glatz and the literary scholar Mihaly Szegedy-Maszak simply refused to collaborate with the Stasi, this had no severe repercussions for their careers. Historian Karoly Vigh, on the other hand, was quite willing to spy on his famous colleague, Domokos Kosary. "The files contain many reports that prove there weren't only traitors, but also courageous people under the dictatorship. Numerous accounts that show how the Kadar regime [Janos Kadar was leader of the communist party from 1956 to 1988] worked have been recorded for posterity. Sooner or later they will come to light. It lies in the interest of Hungarian society that the perpetrators and victims of these accounts be made known."
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Élet és Irodalom - Hungary | Friday, 3. March 2006
A few weeks ago historian Krisztian Ungvary exposed Bishop Laszlo Paskai as a former informer for the political police and triggered a violent debate. He summarises: » more
A few weeks ago historian Krisztian Ungvary exposed Bishop Laszlo Paskai as a former informer for the political police and triggered a violent debate. He summarises: "People quite rightly never stopped demanding that not only former informers but also their commanding officers be unmasked. The silence of bishops who still insist on protecting their oppressors is preventing this. Only they are in a position to finally expose people who play leading roles in politics and the economy today. Many still carry the burden of dictatorship and continue to obey the orders they were once given. By telling their stories, they could free themselves from the bondage of dictatorship ... A number of spectacular cases have proven that society is willing to forgive them."
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Neue Zürcher Zeitung - Switzerland | Friday, 10. February 2006
The spying activities of well-know public figures are coming to light almost on a daily basis in Hungary, writes Susi Koltai. Those implicated include Cardinal ... » more
The spying activities of well-know public figures are coming to light almost on a daily basis in Hungary, writes Susi Koltai. Those implicated include Cardinal Laszlo Paskai, popular football journalist György Szepesi and cult director Gábor Bódy, who died recently. The revelations about the Stasi past of Oscar-winning film director Istvan Szabo caused a major scandal. "It's sad but true that under a dictatorship practically anybody can be compromised. The outrage about Szabo's past therefore seems rather hypocritical... Now that the Hungarian public is confronting Szabo's Stasi past, it's destroying yet another father figure. Perhaps this yearning for absolute purity is in fact a yearning for absolute authority – a remnant of the personality cult in the socialist era? Szabo's moral integrity, as manifest in his preoccupation with the depths of human existence, remains untouched despite his somewhat tarnished past."
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Népszabadság - Hungary | Saturday, 4. February 2006
The young writer Eszter Babarczy went to see Istvan Szabo's new film "Rokonok" ("Relations"). It was the opening film at the Hungarian Film Week in ... » more
The young writer Eszter Babarczy went to see Istvan Szabo's new film "Rokonok" ("Relations"). It was the opening film at the Hungarian Film Week in Budapest. Just a few days before the festival started, Szabo's Stasi past was revealed. Babarczy describes the effect of the film's moral message not to cooperate with power structures in the light of these revelations. "The political systems of the recent past have suppressed public debate and robbed society of the opportunity to tell its stories and confront its dilemmas... The Stasi affairs and corruption scandals show how ambivalent and half-hearted the moral standards which have been handed down to us really are."
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Heti Válasz - Hungary | Friday, 3. February 2006
Following the revelations about Istvan Szabo's Stasi past, the Es Magazin has now exposed two further prominent public figures as former Stasi informants: » more
Following the revelations about Istvan Szabo's Stasi past, the Es Magazin has now exposed two further prominent public figures as former Stasi informants: Cardinal Laszlo Paskai and filmmaker Zsolt Kezdi-Kovacs. Filmmaker Peter Rudolf comments in an interview led by Andras Stumpf : "The Stasi scandals are only trickling into the public domain. That's a terrible thing. Moral judgement can only be passed once we know who was an informant, who had to suffer as a result, and why. Only once a case has been thoroughly clarified can we forgive. Besides, up to now only those who were blackmailed have been put in the pillory; we still know nothing about those who did the blackmailing. These Stasi affairs usually have a complex, murky background, and that won't change because we didn't stage a revolution 16 years ago. It's good that the change of system was made peacefully, but it has had its price."
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Népszabadság - Hungary | Thursday, 2. February 2006
Hungary seems to have difficulties confronting its past, notes historian Róbert Braun. He goes on to draw certain parallels between how the István Szabó case and the Holocaust have been dealt with. "Without intending to equate these two totalitarian systems, one can nonetheless safely say that both forms of dictatorship represented a serious blow to moral values. This is why it's so crucial to take on the challenge of confronting our memories, both of the Holocaust and of socialism. For me, the passiveness of many reactions to the revelations about István Szabós is more worrying than his life as such. The silence, too, is bad, because silence is the attempt to flee justice. In our recollections of the past we should be aware of fundamental moral differences: » more
Hungary seems to have difficulties confronting its past, notes historian Róbert Braun. He goes on to draw certain parallels between how the István Szabó case and the Holocaust have been dealt with. "Without intending to equate these two totalitarian systems, one can nonetheless safely say that both forms of dictatorship represented a serious blow to moral values. This is why it's so crucial to take on the challenge of confronting our memories, both of the Holocaust and of socialism. For me, the passiveness of many reactions to the revelations about István Szabós is more worrying than his life as such. The silence, too, is bad, because silence is the attempt to flee justice. In our recollections of the past we should be aware of fundamental moral differences: in totalitarian regimes there were culprits, victims, resistance fighters and voyeurs. The issue of who were the culprits, who the victims, who resisted and who just looked on needs to be discussed."
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Népszabadság - Hungary | Tuesday, 31. January 2006
On Sunday, Hungarian film director Istvan Szabo revised his explanation for his activity as an informer. He said he allowed himself to be recruited by ... » more
On Sunday, Hungarian film director Istvan Szabo revised his explanation for his activity as an informer. He said he allowed himself to be recruited by Hungary's communist-era secret police to save himself and his university studies, and not to save a friend, as he had initially claimed. Author György Fekete discusses Szabo's moral responsibility. "All those who have commented on this affair have quite rightly pointed out that perhaps Szabo's life work, which focuses mainly on the relationship between the individual, talent, artists and power, could never have been so deep and plausible were it not for his activities as an informer, about which he remained silent for so long. Is it like trying to square the circle if we insist that we can continue to revere Szabo for his humanist life's work? Well, then we must use our common sense and our ability to empathise. This time, we, too, must suffer – not just the artist."
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Népszabadság - Hungary | Monday, 30. January 2006
"It would be better if we never found out who the spies were. But even the doctor can't conceal the diagnosis, no matter how painful, ... » more
"It would be better if we never found out who the spies were. But even the doctor can't conceal the diagnosis, no matter how painful, because what has happened affects the whole organism – whether it's revealed or kept secret," writes journalist Péter Nagy following the disclosures about film director István Szabó, who a few days ago admitted to having supplied the state security service with information when he was a student. "The least we can do is to not simply ignore these admissions," Nagy says, calling for people to confront their dark past, even if this experience is as painful as for Péter Esterházy, who after the death of his father learnt that the latter had spied on him for decades. "He had to write about it. Ruthlessly – towards himself. To this day, he stands alone in doing this."
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Népszabadság - Hungary | Friday, 27. January 2006
Film director István Szabó ("Mephisto") worked in an unofficial capacity for the Hungarian State Security Service from 1957 to 1963. As a student at the ... » more
Film director István Szabó ("Mephisto") worked in an unofficial capacity for the Hungarian State Security Service from 1957 to 1963. As a student at the Hungarian Film School in Budapest, he was forced to collaborate when confronted with compromising material. He responds in an interview to the recent revelations about his past. "I'm grateful and, with the benefit of hindsight, even proud of having collaborated because thanks to this work we were able to prevent a fellow student from being sentenced to death following the revolution of 1956. I'm also glad to be finally able to tell my story (perhaps even in a film), because it will act as a cure and give people a clearer picture of the years between 1957 and 1960. I'm not interested in defending myself."
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Der Standard - Austria | Monday, 23. January 2006
András Heltai-Hopp, now deputy chief editor of "Pester Llloyd" and one of several former Hungarian foreign correspondents accused by journalist Paul Lendvai of having spied ... » more
András Heltai-Hopp, now deputy chief editor of "Pester Llloyd" and one of several former Hungarian foreign correspondents accused by journalist Paul Lendvai of having spied on him in Vienna for the state security service, responds to the accusations in a commentary. "Yes, reports on conversations with Paul Lendvai from over forty years ago were written by me. In times of totalitarian dictatorship, it was the duty of all those working in the West to report on their conversations with citizens from the West. I performed this by no means honourable duty. I regretted it even then – and still regret it to this day. But I won't be written off as an 'agent'. This doesn't mean that I consider myself free of blame. I have – and incidentally I'm the only one to have done so in this affair – publicly recognised my moral responsibility and apologised to Paul Lendvai."
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Magyar Hírlap - Hungary | Tuesday, 17. January 2006
TV journalist and Eastern Europe expert Paul Lendvai, who has lived in Vienna since 1957, has publicly accused several former Vienna correspondents for Hungarian newspapers ... » more
TV journalist and Eastern Europe expert Paul Lendvai, who has lived in Vienna since 1957, has publicly accused several former Vienna correspondents for Hungarian newspapers of spying on him for the Hungarian secret police. The newspaper comments on the correspondents' alleged ties with the secret police. "We don't want all those who used to work on an unofficial basis with the Ministry of State Security to be immediately fired, but editorial departments should be more cautious in their dealings with them in future. We still want to read their analyses of foreign affairs. After all, the state financed their visits abroad for years. But they should not be allowed to take sides in domestic policy disputes or to play the role of arbitrator in moral issues."
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Czech Republic
Respekt - Czech Republic | Tuesday, 15. January 2008
57 Social Democratic and Communist members of parliament have submitted a constitutional challenge to the creation of an authority for research into the totalitarian regime. Their reason: » more
57 Social Democratic and Communist members of parliament have submitted a constitutional challenge to the creation of an authority for research into the totalitarian regime. Their reason: True, the 1950s in former communist Czechoslovakia were terrible years, but the 1970s and 1980s were bearable. Erik Tabery is amazed that there is no protest against this position: "Czech intellectuals have been waiting for years for a probing of the past, based on the German model: For the young to ask the older generations what they really did back in the old days. But that's not happening at all: Instead, the older ones come along and demand that the courts proclaim that these years were not so bad after all. And the younger ones go along with it; it's basically all the same to them. They'd rather take arms against the American Satan."
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Lidové noviny - Czech Republic | Wednesday, 30. May 2007
Two ministers who held office during Czechoslovakia's post-communist period, former Minister of the Interior Richard Sacher and former Defence Minister Miroslav Vacek, have been exposed ... » more
Two ministers who held office during Czechoslovakia's post-communist period, former Minister of the Interior Richard Sacher and former Defence Minister Miroslav Vacek, have been exposed as former collaborators with the StB, the communist secret service. Files on the two ministers were found in around two hundred previously unsorted sacks of papers that were supposed to be destroyed during the upheaval of the fall of communism. "Is it scandalous that the ministers worked for the Stasi ?" asks Martin Zverin. "Of course. But is it surprising? No. ... If 18 years after the fall of communism the names of prominent agents for the communist apparatus of repression are still being revealed and the public is still interested, this is an expression of its frustration that the promised confrontation with the past has been a very selective process. The same goes for the police's investigation of corporate crime. The big fish have been able to sit back and relax. Only once we are convinced that our communists can no longer do any harm will we cease to take an interest in such new revelations."
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Pražský deník - Czech Republic | Monday, 26. February 2007
Recent revelations about the secret service past of former Prime Minister Josef Tosovsky and popular singer Jaroslav Nohavica have revived the subject of collaboration with the secret services in the Czech Republic. The Czech Minister of the Interior, Ivan Langer, now wants all files to be made public and the names of former informants to be published on the Internet. Dalibor Dostal comments: » more
Recent revelations about the secret service past of former Prime Minister Josef Tosovsky and popular singer Jaroslav Nohavica have revived the subject of collaboration with the secret services in the Czech Republic. The Czech Minister of the Interior, Ivan Langer, now wants all files to be made public and the names of former informants to be published on the Internet. Dalibor Dostal comments: "Czech society still hasn't dealt appropriately with its communist past. On the one hand former spies are being treated like second-class citizens and not allowed to occupy certain positions. On the other, the Communist Party (KSCM) remains a fixed component of the political scene. At a local level the Conservative Civic Democratic Party (ODS) works together with the Communists, and President Vaclav Klaus owes his current post to communist votes. If Czech politicians don't adopt a clear stance regarding the legitimacy of the KSCM, the persecution of small-time Stasi spies will increasingly become a ridiculous symbol of hypocrisy."
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Respekt - Czech Republic | Wednesday, 7. February 2007
The Archbishop of Prague Cardinal Miloslav Vlk wants an investigation into whether Czech members of the clergy collaborated with the communist secret police the StB. A panel of historians set up by Vlk and the Czech Ministry of Domestic affairs has been commissioned to carry out the necessary research. Vlk was prompted to take action by the scandal surrounding revelations about the spying activities of his counterpart in Warsaw, Stanislaw Wielgus. Commentator Petr Tresnak approves of Vlk's measures: » more
The Archbishop of Prague Cardinal Miloslav Vlk wants an investigation into whether Czech members of the clergy collaborated with the communist secret police the StB. A panel of historians set up by Vlk and the Czech Ministry of Domestic affairs has been commissioned to carry out the necessary research. Vlk was prompted to take action by the scandal surrounding revelations about the spying activities of his counterpart in Warsaw, Stanislaw Wielgus. Commentator Petr Tresnak approves of Vlk's measures: "The Cardinal's project is a good idea. The public debate on the subject of collaboration with the secret police has been stymied because with the help of the courts, former agents have been stealing from their files and washing away the sins of their past. With no reflection about what they had done. Self-reflection among the clergy could lend new impetus to our dealing with our past."
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Talaljuk ki Közep-Europat? - Hungary | Sunday, 13. August 2006
Judit Hamberger of the Laszlo Teleki Institute in Hungary points to how Czech Social Democrats and communists try to get round the so-called Lustration Law, which excludes former communist functionaries and secret service collaborators from holding public office. "In their government programme the Social Democrats, in government since 1998, say nothing about wanting to make a break with the communist past. On the contrary: » more
Judit Hamberger of the Laszlo Teleki Institute in Hungary points to how Czech Social Democrats and communists try to get round the so-called Lustration Law, which excludes former communist functionaries and secret service collaborators from holding public office. "In their government programme the Social Democrats, in government since 1998, say nothing about wanting to make a break with the communist past. On the contrary: there are numerous attempts to hinder the process of confrontation with the past." Hamberger criticises the fact that while state security spies are publicly condemned, there are still former collaborators whose identity remains secret. "There are many who can count themselves as the real winners of the Velvet Revolution. Their names don't appear on any lists and before the fall of communism they were relatively well paid. After the fall of communism they were able to profit from privatisation measures, thanks to their connections in high places and privileged access to information. They don't hold public office but many own large companies."
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Mladá fronta Dnes - Czech Republic | Wednesday, 21. December 2005
In 1981, several hundred agents of the former Czech secret police, the StB, volunteered to go to Poland on a secret mission to counteract the forces of democracy unleashed by the independent trade union, Solidarnosc. "With this mission, the regime in Prague hoped to prevent the spread of ideas about freedom from Poland to Czechoslovakia", the newspaper reports. "Historian Petr Blazek, who discovered the documents which include lists of names of the StB agents recounts: » more
In 1981, several hundred agents of the former Czech secret police, the StB, volunteered to go to Poland on a secret mission to counteract the forces of democracy unleashed by the independent trade union, Solidarnosc. "With this mission, the regime in Prague hoped to prevent the spread of ideas about freedom from Poland to Czechoslovakia", the newspaper reports. "Historian Petr Blazek, who discovered the documents which include lists of names of the StB agents recounts: 'The mission was to run parallel to an invasion of Poland. The volunteer aspect is interesting when you bear in mind that not much time had passed since August 1968 (when the Prague reforms were prevented by tanks under the Warsaw Pact). All the StB people had witnessed the occupation of Czechoslovakia and knew that they weren't going to Poland on a holiday.'" The mission was called off because the Polish communist leadership took matters into its own hands and imposed martial law on the country.
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Slovakia
Pravda - Slovakia | Thursday, 15. February 2007
In Slovakia new files have come to light according to which Jan Sokol, Archbishop of Trnava and Bratislava, maintained close ties with the former communist secret police in Czechoslovakia. Among other things, he allegedly passed on confidential information about a Slovak priest living in exile in the Vatican to the secret police in 1988. Commentator Marius Kopcsay is blunt in his criticism: » more
In Slovakia new files have come to light according to which Jan Sokol, Archbishop of Trnava and Bratislava, maintained close ties with the former communist secret police in Czechoslovakia. Among other things, he allegedly passed on confidential information about a Slovak priest living in exile in the Vatican to the secret police in 1988. Commentator Marius Kopcsay is blunt in his criticism: "These new suspicions come at a time when the Archbishop is already under pressure for having paid tribute to the Independent Slovak Republic [which was dependent on Nazi Germany] under Jozef Tiso's rule. It appears that Sokol has fond memories of the totalitarian regime and worked together with those who ruled it. From a legal point of view he is presumed innocent. However, in politics such suspicions would be enough to warrant his stepping down until the whole matter had been cleared up. But the Church is not a political party. It doesn't have to worry about its image or its popularity in opinion polls. Other values play a more important role, for example one's conscience."
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Hospodářské noviny - Czech Republic | Thursday, 22. June 2006
Like several of its neighbouring countries, the Czech Republic now plans to set up a special public authority to deal with the crimes of communism. ... » more
Like several of its neighbouring countries, the Czech Republic now plans to set up a special public authority to deal with the crimes of communism. The corresponding proposal was accepted yesterday in the second chamber of the Parliament in Prague. Renata Havranova points out that Slovakia has had a similar institution, the "Nation's Memory Institute", since 2003, but that there were considerable problems when the idea was first proposed. "For a long time the political will to punish the crimes of communism and expose Stasi collaborators was lacking. Former President Rudolf Schuster justified his veto against the creation of the institute, saying that the files were incomplete and that they could be put to improper use. Had it not been for the persistent efforts of civil rights activists like Jan Langos and Jan Carnogurski, this institution would not exist today. Now the institute is already dealing with Slovakia's fascist era and the Aryanization of Jewish property.
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Romania
România Liberă - Romania | Monday, 4. February 2008
On Sunday, several hundred people protested in Bucharest against the decision of the constitutional court declaring the existing rules for dealing with the Securitate files unconstitutional. To date, the decisions about which files would be made public were taken by an eleven-member governing council of CNSAS, the government agency responsible for dealing with the files, manned according to the parties' proportional representation in parliament. Andreea Pora comments. "In future, the issue will no longer be to shed light on the work of the Securitate, this question seems to be forgotten. Rather, it is above all about the struggle for the CNSAS archive. ... The government's sincerity regarding this project can be proven in just one way: » more
On Sunday, several hundred people protested in Bucharest against the decision of the constitutional court declaring the existing rules for dealing with the Securitate files unconstitutional. To date, the decisions about which files would be made public were taken by an eleven-member governing council of CNSAS, the government agency responsible for dealing with the files, manned according to the parties' proportional representation in parliament. Andreea Pora comments. "In future, the issue will no longer be to shed light on the work of the Securitate, this question seems to be forgotten. Rather, it is above all about the struggle for the CNSAS archive. ... The government's sincerity regarding this project can be proven in just one way: The archive must be placed under the control of civil society, following the model of its German counterpart, not under the control of the parties. At least that must happen. Otherwise, one must consider it not only to be restoration, but a conspiracy."
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Evenimentul Zilei - Romania | Friday, 1. February 2008
Romania's National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives (CNSAS) is on its deathbed. The constitutional court decided yesterday that the law that has regulated the council's work over the past eight years is partly unconstitutional. Ioana Lupea observes: » more
Romania's National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives (CNSAS) is on its deathbed. The constitutional court decided yesterday that the law that has regulated the council's work over the past eight years is partly unconstitutional. Ioana Lupea observes: "People's access to their own past and that of their rulers is temporarily closed. This court decision invalidates evidence already produced about cooperation with the political police of the Securitate secret service. The public will never know who else could have been unmasked, and those involved will be released from all responsibility. ... In one day, Romania has lost 18 years. Now it depends on those forces who call themselves anti-communist – that is, the president and government – to turn this catastrophe into an opportunity and overcome political rivalries."
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Evenimentul Zilei - Romania | Thursday, 3. January 2008
Romania's oppositional Social Democrats (PSD) want to greatly limit the independence of the authority that is examining the files of Romania's former secret service Securitate (CNSAS). Accordingly, the authority would only have a say in whether files were published but would no longer be able to disclose the names of Securitate collaborators. Iona Lupea explains: » more
Romania's oppositional Social Democrats (PSD) want to greatly limit the independence of the authority that is examining the files of Romania's former secret service Securitate (CNSAS). Accordingly, the authority would only have a say in whether files were published but would no longer be able to disclose the names of Securitate collaborators. Iona Lupea explains: "This is not the first attack on the integrity of the authority. Over the past two years, there have been constant attempts to discredit this institution. … In fact, the authority's work has not wreaked any political havoc that could justify the fears of political parties. Even the PSD, the institution's bitter enemy, has been spared. ... But as long as people tend to glorify the communist totalitarian past as Romania's good old days - and ignore its mass murders - the PSD has ... no political legitimacy problems."
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Cotidianul - Romania | Friday, 25. May 2007
The Romanian head of state, Traian Basescu, plans to propose the introduction of a lustration law at a meeting with the parliamentary parties next Monday. Under the law, which is modelled on Poland's lustration law, the past of Romania's public figures would be checked for evidence of collaboration with the communist dictatorship. According to Mirela Corlatan such a law will meet with tough resistance: » more
The Romanian head of state, Traian Basescu, plans to propose the introduction of a lustration law at a meeting with the parliamentary parties next Monday. Under the law, which is modelled on Poland's lustration law, the past of Romania's public figures would be checked for evidence of collaboration with the communist dictatorship. According to Mirela Corlatan such a law will meet with tough resistance: "Right now changing the laws governing access to the archives is more important than the lustration. If the archives are opened, the lustration will follow automatically. It's difficult to believe that Traian Basescu, who as recently as last January explained that lustration would only have made sense a year after the fall of communism, will resolutely push through his proposal for a lustration law, as he promised to do in his post-referendum euphoria. But if researchers are given access to the archives this would have the effect of revitalising the political class for future elections."
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Finland
Hufvudstadsbladet - Finland | Tuesday, 14. August 2007
In Sweden and Finland, secret service files and lists of names have triggered a debate about Swedish and Finnish citizens who worked as informants for ... » more
In Sweden and Finland, secret service files and lists of names have triggered a debate about Swedish and Finnish citizens who worked as informants for the GDR's notorious state security service. Björn Sundell calls for the list of Finnish informants to be made public. "In this particular aspect it's like a dictatorship here in Finland. Researchers have virtually no access to the archives, and with each year that passes fewer applicants receive permission to search the files. We citizens aren't even being given the chance to find out what is written about us in the secret files. In Finland, the individual is denied the right to inspect his personal data. In this area it seems the security of the state or the manic efforts of the secret services to protect their own position take priority over all other ideals, even as far as historical material from the times of the Cold War is concerned."
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Sweden
Svenska Dagbladet - Sweden | Tuesday, 14. August 2007
The Swedish secret police Säpo has confirmed the existence of files on around 50 Swedish Stasi informants. However, the names of the informants are not to be made public. Lisa Bjurwald asks: » more
The Swedish secret police Säpo has confirmed the existence of files on around 50 Swedish Stasi informants. However, the names of the informants are not to be made public. Lisa Bjurwald asks: "Is it really appropriate... to expose people in such a way? At the same time I can imagine that this kind of material is highly interesting for research purposes. These reports reflect the hidden aspects of a society at that time... Because their crimes fall under the statute of limitations, those Swedes who collaborated with the communist reign of terror will probably never be brought to trial. But this doesn't necessarily mean one must refuse all calls for them to be called to account in other ways."
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Spain
Rzeczpospolita - Poland | Saturday, 24. March 2007
Tensions have arisen between Poland and Spain after the Spanish Senate called on the Spanish government to lobby for the two dozen or so Poles who fought against Franco during the Spanish Civil War and are still alive today. The senators argue that the former combatants will be affected by Poland's lustration law, which requires Polish citizens to reveal former collaboration with the communist secret services, and could face pension cuts as a result. Igor Janke comments: » more
Tensions have arisen between Poland and Spain after the Spanish Senate called on the Spanish government to lobby for the two dozen or so Poles who fought against Franco during the Spanish Civil War and are still alive today. The senators argue that the former combatants will be affected by Poland's lustration law, which requires Polish citizens to reveal former collaboration with the communist secret services, and could face pension cuts as a result. Igor Janke comments: "The Spanish are hitting out blindly in defence of the memory of their heroes. The Polish government is not punishing anyone for having fought in the war against Franco. It simply wants to abolish the privileges of those who were members of the apparatus of repression, of people who wanted to choke our independence and persecuted and tortured the heroes who fought for freedom and democracy in Poland."
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