“Need to Know” in a Time of Crisis: The Collaboration between Romanian Secret Services and Their Homologues in the Soviet Bloc in 1956

Based on archival research and secondary sources, this article will address the collaboration between the Romanian secret services—Securitate—and their homologues in the Soviet bloc during the 1956 Hungarian revolt. At that time, people in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Romania dared to challenge their governments, being inspired by Hungarians who took to the streets in an attempt to change the Soviet-like system in their country. The mass movement in Budapest was perceived as a threat to the communist regime by leaders in Central and Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union who feared a “domino effect” that would shake the still fragile foundation of the Socialist construction in the region. The article covers the period beginning with 1955, when archival records show efforts for setting up multilateral collaboration in the field of intelligence and the Securitate’s attempts to establish bilateral cooperation with their homologues for the first time.