What to Reveal, What to Protect? The Archives of the Communist Secret Police and the Enforcement of the GDPR
Bucharest, June 4-5, 2026, The Auditorium of the Romanian Academy, 125 Calea Victoriei, 10:00 a.m
International CNSAS Conference at the Auditorium of the Romanian Academy
The National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives (CNSAS), in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Romania, is organizing the international conference “What to Reveal, What to Protect? The Archives of the Communist Secret Police and the Enforcement of the GDPR”, which will take place on 4–5 June 2026 at the Auditorium of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest.
The conference brings together specialists from Romania and several European countries — representatives of archival institutions, researchers, historians, legal experts, and data protection specialists — to discuss contemporary challenges regarding access to the archives of former communist regimes and the balance between the right to memory and the protection of private life.
The debates will address the impact of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on historical research, methods of access to the documents of former secret police institutions, the relationship between institutional transparency and the protection of personal data, as well as European practices concerning the valorization of repressive archives. Participants will also examine the relationship between memory, historical truth, and individual rights in contemporary democratic societies.
The event will host representatives of prestigious institutions from Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Germany, and Albania, including the National Archives of Romania, the Institute of National Remembrance in Poland, the Stasi Archives in Germany, the Lithuanian Special Archives, and institutions responsible for managing and promoting the archives of former repressive services in Central and Eastern Europe.
The official opening will take place on 4 June 2026 at 10:00 a.m., in the presence of the CNSAS leadership and representatives of partner institutions. The conference program includes academic presentations, thematic panels, and debates dedicated to the legal, historical, and ethical implications of access to the archives of communism. The event aims to contribute to strengthening the European dialogue on dealing with the totalitarian past and safeguarding democratic values through research, transparency, and institutional responsibility.