By: Dr Andreja Valič Zver
“In post-communist societies, such as Slovenia, the necessity of truth, justice, and memory is inseparably linked to the right of open access to the archives of the secret political police,” I wrote in a press release in January 2014 as the Chair of the Slovenian Archives Commission. During the pre-referendum debates on amendments to the archival law regarding access to archival materials containing sensitive personal data obtained through violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and related to individuals who were not public officials, numerous controversies flared up. Like the so-called archival referendum in 2011, many heated questions were raised once again. In both cases, as well as in the recent case of “Marta Kos”, which once again stirred the Slovenian public, I emphasised that “the public’s interest in revealing the activities of criminal organisations, such as the UDBA, which systemically violated human rights and fundamental freedoms, outweighs the right to protect the sensitive personal data of employees and collaborators of the secret political police.”
But one thing is the principled professional and ethical positions, and another is the practice, which falters between truth, expertise, and politics, and between lies, obfuscation, and distortion of the truth. In light of the current “appointments” within the European Commission, I would like to draw attention to the question posed in 2010 by European MPs Andrej Kovačev, László Tőkés, Milan Zver, and Cristian Dan Preda. At the time, they posed the following fairly simple question to the European Commission.
“According to the Slovenian Study Centre for National Reconciliation, the archives concerning the activities of the UDBA, the former Yugoslav totalitarian communist secret service in Slovenia, are now stored in Serbia
Citizens of Slovenia, an EU member state, do not have the right to access these archives, which are connected to their past during the Yugoslav totalitarian communist regime. These archives are now stored in another country, namely the Republic of Serbia, which officially applied for EU membership on December 22nd, 2009.
The government of the Republic of Slovenia has repeatedly requested that the government of the Republic of Serbia allow Slovenian citizens access to these archives. However, the Serbian government has not responded to Slovenia’s requests.
Furthermore, citizens of other former Yugoslav republics also do not have access to the UDBA secret service archives, and neither do the citizens of the Republic of Serbia.
The government of the Republic of Serbia is preparing the country for EU accession, which means that it will need to allow its citizens and citizens of all EU member states free access to information.
What measures will the Commission take to encourage the government of the Republic of Serbia to open the UDBA secret service archives and thus provide access to information for citizens of Serbia, all EU member states, and former Yugoslav republics that are not members of the EU?”
A certain Mr. Füle, responding on behalf of the European Commission – who, incidentally, took more than two months to reply – dryly asserted that “regarding the question of access to the archives of the former Yugoslav communist secret service UDBA, the Commission wishes to inform the Members of the European Parliament that this matter does not fall within its competence. Therefore, the Commission cannot demand that the Serbian government ensure access to these archives”. In what seemed like mockery, he added that “the Commission will continue to encourage Serbia and other candidate and potential candidate countries to resolve outstanding bilateral issues with neighbouring countries in a spirit of good neighbourly relations.”
Well, and in this “spirit of good neighbourly relations”, the government of Miro Cerar hastily “blessed” Serbia’s further accession to the European Union a few years later, also by swiftly closing the dossier on the archives of the Yugoslav secret political police.
From this tiny fragment, selected from all the mysterious events related to UDBA archival materials, dear readers, you can gather how sensitive and significant this issue remains before us. Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and other post-communist countries have dealt with it far better than we have. Much has already been written on this topic. But if we do not courageously address the open wounds of “justice, truth, and memory” with the change of power and fully open the archives, cases like “Marta Kos” will continue to emerge from dusty historical cabinets. Our society will remain in turmoil, and, unfortunately, future generations will not escape this burden.
