The network was established in 2008 by seven Central European institutions managing the records of former communist security bodies: the Bulgarian Committee on Disclosure of Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens with the State Security and the Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian National Army (COMDOS), the Czech Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and the Security Services Archive (USTR and ABS), the German Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic (BStU) (today’s Bundesarchiv - Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv), the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security (ABTL), the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (IPN), the Romanian National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives (CNSAS), and Nation´s Memory Institute (UPN). Several years later, the Albanian Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents (AIDSSH) joined the network as a member.

The network has five associate members (observers): the National Archives of Estonia, the National Archives of Latvia, Lithuanian Special Archives, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, and the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia.

The general aim of the network is to create a common forum for the exchange and transfer of information concerning the archives governed, legal regulations applied to the access and research of the former communist security bodies, historical-political education and public relations, and relevant research. A common goal of the network is mutual support in the fulfilment of these tasks. The members of the network are working to guarantee the full independence of archival research, as well as to prevent any kind of political instrumentalization of the archival holdings.

Network conference in Bratislava, Slovakia, September 25–26, 2019. Presenters from left to right: Gregor Jenuš (Archives of the Republic of Slovenia), Franciszek Dąbrowski (IPN), Pavol Pytlík (UPN), L’ubomir Ďurina (UPN). Photo: AIPN