National Archives restricts access to Russian historical materials until 9999

Finland’s National Archives has limited access to historical materials brought from Russia, allowing them to be viewed only in supervised conditions, Yle reports. The restriction is listed as lasting from autumn 2022 until the end of 9999 and is based on agreements with Russian archives.

The materials include, among other things, drawings of Suomenlinna, a fortress, from the early 20th century. They can currently be viewed only in the National Archives’ reading rooms.

Yle’s MOT interviewed 10 researchers from Helsinki, Turku and Tampere. Many did not want to comment publicly because they feared their work would become even more difficult. The interviews raised serious concerns about the future of historical research in Finland and about wider changes in the National Archives’ operating culture.

Pia Koivunen, a docent in Russian history at the University of Turku, said the National Archives’ current practices were making researchers’ work considerably harder.

The National Archives preserves and provides access to the original sources on which research and teaching in Finland are based. Its statutory duties include safeguarding documentary cultural heritage and promoting its use in research.

One million pages brought to Finland

Russian archives contain extensive material relating to Finland. The systematic copying of these documents began in 2005, when the National Archives launched cooperation with Russian archives to make important documents available to Finnish researchers.

Over 15 years, one million pages of documents dating from 1500 to 1990 were brought to Finland.

“From Suomenlinna alone, we received around 10,000 pages of new research material,” said Jussi Nuorteva, the National Archives’ former director general. He said Finnish archives had previously contained little information about Suomenlinna during the period of Russian rule.

Nuorteva was responsible for the decision to copy the materials as part of the cooperation project. According to him, cooperation with Russia worked well until spring 2022, when it was frozen.

“When I served as director general of the National Archives until summer 2022, there was no pressure from Russia,” Nuorteva said.

Nuorteva questioned the legal basis for the restrictions. He said the National Archives could not independently make decisions that infringed on freedom of information and research.

“The starting point has always been that archives should be as openly available to everyone as possible. That is the foundation of democracy,” he said.

Former officials question the restrictions

Historian and professor Dmitri Frolov was responsible for identifying materials to be purchased for Finland and for negotiations with Russian archives.

“More than one million euros in public money was spent on surveying and copying the materials,” Frolov said.

Frolov worked as a development manager at the National Archives until he was dismissed in change negotiations at the end of 2022. He later worked for years to make the materials freely available online.

According to Frolov, Russia’s archival authorities opposed online access, but a provision allowing it was eventually included in the latest agreements.

“In Russia, secrecy classifications and personal data restrictions have been removed from the documents. Yet the National Archives restricts their use. Why is it now doing what Russia once demanded?” Frolov said.

He suspects the National Archives has resorted to self-censorship.

Päivi Happonen, now the National Archives’ director general, was involved in the Russia project and signed the agreement documents. She rejected that interpretation.

“It would be self-censorship if the National Archives independently restricted the use of the acquired materials, for example out of fear of Russia’s reaction. That is not the case,” Happonen said.

According to Happonen, there have been no contacts with Russia since February 2022, and the restrictions are based on earlier agreements.

“Under the agreements, the materials can be used either in the National Archives’ reading rooms or through a secure remote connection. As such an environment does not yet exist, access has been limited to the reading rooms,” she said.