Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó has revealed that the United Nations will lift the confidential status of its documents on Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution, stored at Columbia University and the UN’s archives.
Up until recently, there was little knowledge of the fact that the UN was even in possession of classified files concerning 1956, it has been revealed.
As a result of Hungary’s diplomatic efforts, talks eventually began on declassifying several documents on the 1956 uprising.
Negotiations were held with Jeffrey Feltman, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, who informed Hungary on Friday about the decision to declassify the documents.
“Some of the files are believed to contain testimonies by people who had participated in the revolution and others are likely descriptions of the events,” Minister Szijjártó said.
Hungarian historian András Nagy, a specialist in the UN’s role in the 1956 revolution, will arrive in New York on May 16th to research and document the files. Hungary has contributed 50 thousand USD to the document recovery efforts.