:Vlachs of Serbia

"Vlach" is a word of Germanic origin, originally used by the Germanic tribes to refer to the Romans. It would later be adopted by the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire and virtually all Slavs to refer to the Romance languages-speakers in the Balkans that remained following the various migrations into the area. These peoples never referred to themselves as "Vlachs", but as some variant of "Roman". Today there are several peoples that are still commonly referred to as Vlachs, these including the Vlachs of eastern Serbia.{{sfn|Ivkov-Džigurski et al.|2012|pp=62–63}}

There are hypotheses about an autochthonous origin of the Vlachs in the area in which they currently live. Researchers who promoted this idea include the researcher Atanasie Popovici, a native of the area.{{sfn|Huțanu|Sorescu-Marinković|2018|p=2}} However, most researchers agree that the Vlachs of eastern Serbia originate from areas in present-day Romania and settled in land in which they live today as a result of migrations in the 18th and 19th centuries.{{sfn|Huțanu|Sorescu-Marinković|2018|p=2}}{{sfn|Manovich|2014|pp=22–23}} These migrations occurred due to the difficult living conditions in Hungary, Moldavia and Wallachia.{{sfn|Ivkov-Džigurski et al.|2012|pp=68}} Strong migrations were recorded between 1718 and 1739 after the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–1718; during this time, eastern Serbia was part of the Banat of Temeswar. Migrations to eastern Serbia continued after this period, albeit on a smaller scale.{{sfn|Huțanu|Sorescu-Marinković|2018|p=2}} More precisely, migrations were recorded in the periods of 1723–1725, 1733–1734, 1818 and 1834. These were directed to the settlements of Jošanica, Krepoljin, Laznica ({{lang|ro|Laznița}}), Osanica, Ribare, Suvi Do, Vukovac, Žagubica ({{lang|ro|Jagubița}} or {{lang|ro|Jăgobița}}). These migrations increased the number of houses in the area around the Homolje Mountains ({{langx|sr|{{lang|sr-Cyrl|Хомољске планине}} / {{lang|sr-Latn|Homoljske planine}}|link=no}}; {{langx|ro|Munții Homolie|link=no}} or {{lang|ro|Munții Homoliei}}) from 80 in 1718 to 155 in 1733. Furthermore, the two latter waves led to the foundation of the settlements of Bliznak, Breznica, Izvarica, Jasikovo, Krupaja, Milanovac and Sige. According to the place of origin of these new migrants, the Vlachs of eastern Serbia were divided into {{lang|ro|ungureni}} (originating from the Kingdom of Hungary, or more precisely, from Banat and Transylvania proper) and {{lang|ro|țărani}} (originating from Moldavia and Wallachia).{{sfn|Ivkov-Džigurski et al.|2012|pp=68}} The Vlachs are still divided into these two groups according to the Romanian dialect they speak; the {{lang|ro|ungureni}} have a speech closely related to the Banat Romanian dialect while the dialect of the {{lang|ro|țărani}} is closer to the Wallachian one. Dialectally, there are two other groups of Vlachs, the {{lang|ro|munteni}} and the {{lang|ro|bufani}}, but these are largely assimilated into the former two.{{sfn|Huțanu|Sorescu-Marinković|2018|p=2}}

File:EtnickaKartaVlaha.jpg

Before the unification of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859, the Vlachs in eastern Serbia were officially known as "Romanians".{{sfn|Ivkov-Džigurski et al.|2012|p=66}} On the other hand, the country of Wallachia (the name of which was derived from "Vlach"),{{sfn|Ivkov-Džigurski et al.|2012|p=63}} was known in Serbian as {{lang|sr-Cyrl|Влашка}} / {{lang|sr-Latn|Vlaška}}. Furthermore, in ethnographic studies of the 19th or early 20th century, the Vlachs of eastern Serbia were regarded as Romanians in an undisputed way. However, after 1859 and the formation of the first modern Romanian state, this practice was reversed, with the name of "Vlach" being imposed over on the community of eastern Serbia to break similarities with the Romanians; this was intensified after the creation of Yugoslavia.{{sfn|Ivkov-Džigurski et al.|2012|pp=66–67}}

According to an article by Ivan Miladinović for Večernje novosti, at the end of 1946, Yugoslav Partisans leader Josip Broz Tito presented a proposal to allow Romania to annex the Vlach-populated areas in eastern Serbia since "Romanian comrades, Gheorghiu-Dej and Ana Pauker, think it is their people and their territory"; Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Serbia Blagoje Nešković would have expressed strong opposition to this proposal.{{cite news|url=https://www.novosti.rs/c/drustvo/vesti/1167975/sramne-stranice-hrvatske-povjesti-sta-povezuje-kosovo-metohiju-istru-kakve-veze-tim-ima-musolini|title=СРАМНЕ СТРАНИЦЕ ХРВАТСКЕ ПОВЈЕСТИ: Шта повезује Косово и Метохију и Истру и какве везе са тим има и Мусолини|first=Ivan|last=Miladinović|newspaper=Večernje novosti|date=30 October 2022|language=sr}}

{{Main|Romanian language in Serbia}}

The Vlachs speak a group of archaic Romanian varieties known as "Vlach" in Serbia. The Romanian language is not in use in local administration, not even in localities where members of the minority represent more than 15% of the population, where it would be allowed according to Serbian law. This is mostly because of the lack of teachers and because Vlach is more of an oral than a written language. Since 2012, there have been continuous efforts to standardize Vlach in a written form, and the teaching of Vlach has started in schools. While the Vlach standard written language is under development, the Vlach Council in Serbia in 2006 debated the use of Serbian as the official language and Romanian as the literary language. This proposition of the council was confirmed in a document it issued in 2010 – endorsing the Serbian language while written Vlach was being developed. In 2012, the council decided to adopt a proposition on written and oral Vlach and started to work towards its standardization.{{Citation |title=Vlaška nacionalna manjina: Demografski podaci |url=http://fer.org.rs/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Odgovor-na-rumunski-non-paper-20.2.2012.pdf |language=sr |mode=cs1 |script-title=sr:Влашка национална мањина: Демографски подаци |url-status=dead |via=fer.org.rs |access-date=2020-11-30 |archive-date=2020-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716174151/http://fer.org.rs/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Odgovor-na-rumunski-non-paper-20.2.2012.pdf }} According to the Serbian census of 2011, among the 35,330 individuals who identified as Vlachs, 28,918 declared that they spoke Vlach, and 186 Romanian. Out of 43,095 individuals who declared that their mother tongue was Vlach, 28,918 declared their ethnicity as Vlach, 12,156 as Serb, 67 as Romanian, 174 as other, 1,150 who did not declare and 266 unknown.{{cite web | url=https://www.stat.gov.rs/en-us/oblasti/popis/popis-2011/popisni-podaci-eksel-tabele/ | title=Census data - excel table | Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia }} In southern and eastern Serbia, where the population with a Vlach identity was concentrated, there were 32,873 people with a Vlach identity, and 2,073 people with a Romanian identity, according to the 2011 Serbian census.See the table "Population by ethnicity and sex, by municipalities and cities" at https://www.stat.gov.rs/en-us/oblasti/popis/popis-2011/popisni-podaci-eksel-tabele/

The Romanian Orthodox Church in Malajnica, built in 2004, is the first Romanian church in eastern Serbia. Before its construction, Romanians in Eastern Serbia were not allowed to hear liturgical services in their native language.{{Cite web |url=http://bignewsmagazine.com/2004/12/xenophobic-actions-against-timoc-romanians/ |title=Xenophobic actions against Timoc Romanians |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716120125/http://bignewsmagazine.com/2004/12/xenophobic-actions-against-timoc-romanians/ |archive-date=2012-07-16 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|title=SERBIA: Romanian priest to pay for official destruction of his church|url=http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=654|work=F18News|publisher=Forum 18 News Service|access-date=26 June 2012|author=Drasko Djenovic|date=9 September 2005}}{{Cite web |date=2 March 2008 |title=Haiducul credintei din Valea Timocului, Boian Alexandrovici, decorat de presedintele Basescu |url=http://www.rgnpress.ro/Politic/Haiducul-credintei-din-Valea-Timocului-Boian-Alexandrovici-decorat-de-presedintele-Basescu.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919130036/http://www.rgnpress.ro/Politic/Haiducul-credintei-din-Valea-Timocului-Boian-Alexandrovici-decorat-de-presedintele-Basescu.html |archive-date=2008-09-19 |website=RGN Press |language=ro}} Most Vlachs of Eastern Serbia are Orthodox Christians who had belonged to the Serbian Orthodox Church since the 19th century. This changed on 24 March 2009, when Serbia recognized the authority of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Eastern Serbia and the confessional rights of the Vlachs.{{Cite web |last=Miron |first=Gheorghe |language=ro |date=7 December 2009 |title=Biserica Română din Timoc a fost recunoscută de către Curtea Supremă de Justiţie a Serbie |url=http://www.ziuadevest.ro/actualitate/5863-biserica-roman-din-timoc-a-fost-recunoscut-de-ctre-curtea-suprem-de-justiie-a-serbiei.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726162514/http://www.ziuadevest.ro/actualitate/5863-biserica-roman-din-timoc-a-fost-recunoscut-de-ctre-curtea-suprem-de-justiie-a-serbiei.html |archive-date=2011-07-26 |access-date=2010-02-21 |website=Ziua de Vest}}

The 2006 Serbian law on religious organizations did not recognize the Romanian Orthodox Church as a traditional church, as it had received permission from the Serbian Church to operate only within Vojvodina, but not in Eastern Serbia. At Malajnica, a Vlach priest belonging to the Romanian Orthodox Church encountered deliberately-raised administrative barriers when he attempted to build a church.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/romanian/news/story/2005/09/050916_malainita.shtml "Biserica românească din Malainiţa ameninţată din nou"], BBC Romanian, 16 September 2005

{{Split section|Vlach magic|date=October 2023}}

The relative isolation of the Vlachs has permitted the survival of various pre-Christian religious customs and beliefs that are frowned upon by the Orthodox Church. Vlach magic rituals are well known across modern Serbia. The Vlachs celebrate the ospăț (hospitium, in Latin), called in Serbian praznik or slava. The customs of the Vlachs are very similar to those from Southern Romania (Wallachia).{{Cite web |last=Brodner |first=Raluca |date=17 June 2009 |title=Obiceiuri de înmormântare la românii din Timoc |url=http://www.ziarullumina.ro/articole;940;1;24534;0;Obiceiuri-de-inmormantare-la-romanii-din-Timoc.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721093559/http://www.ziarullumina.ro/articole%3B940%3B1%3B24534%3B0%3BObiceiuri-de-inmormantare-la-romanii-din-Timoc.html |archive-date=July 21, 2011 |website=ZiarulLumina.ro |language=ro}}

The identity and ethnic classification of the Timok Vlachs is highly contested. The Serbian government considers the Timok Vlachs a distinct and independent group and rejects any conflation with the Romanians, citing census results and their right to self-identify with the minority of their choice. On the other hand, the Romanian government's position is that the Timok Vlachs are simply Romanians, that the split into "Romanian" and "Vlach" identities is artificial and that Serbia has failed to protect the minority rights of the Romanians.{{sfn|Manovich|2014|pp=23–24}}

These disputes also occur between the Timok Vlachs themselves. Two main groups stand out: an "anti-Romanian" group and another "pro-Romanian" group. The former regards Serbia as the homeland of the Timok Vlachs and rejects any connection to Romania, while the latter relates the Timok Vlachs and Romanian through elements such as language and often regards Romania as the homeland of the Timok Vlachs, although both agree on the need for the Serbian government to do more to protect the Timok Vlachs.{{sfn|Manovich|2014|p=27}}

The situation within the {{ill|National Council of the Vlach National Minority|sr|Национални савет влашке националне мањине}} is particularly convulsed. In 2009, during an interview for the Serbian newspaper Politika, Živoslav Lazić, the president of the council and mayor of Veliko Gradište ({{lang|ro|Grădiștea Mare}}), called the efforts by "some in Serbia" to prove that the Romanians and the Timok Vlachs are a separate minority as "xenophobic". He also argued that claims about Romanianization of the Timok Vlachs by Romania come from people whose real aim is the assimilation of the Timok Vlachs.{{cite news|url=https://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/87404/Vlasi-istocne-Srbije-od-asimilacije-do-rumu-nizacije|title=Власи источне Србије – од асимилације до румунизације|first=Marko|last=Albunović|newspaper=Politika|date=17 May 2009|language=sr}} In 2010, shortly before the first elections to choose the members of the Vlach National Council, Vlach politician Miletić Mihajlović accused the council of being pro-Romanian and of having as its main objective "transfer" the Vlachs into the Romanians, adding that Serbia was the homeland of the Vlachs.{{cite news|url=https://www.novosti.rs/%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8/%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0/%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0.393.html:272804-Vlahe-bi-u-Rumune|title=Влахе би у Румуне|newspaper=Novosti|date=8 May 2010|language=sr}} The new council elected in 2010 adopted an anti-Romanian stance. In 2012, the new president, Radiša Dragojević, stated that "Nobody has the right to ask Vlachs to declare themselves as Romanians", that "Vlachs consider Serbia their motherland" and that "We have no objections, nor any basis to turn to Romania, nor does Romania have any basis to make any demands on our behalf". According to Dragojević himself, according to the 23 members that corresponded to the council of the Timok Vlachs, only four were pro-Romanian.{{sfn|Manovich|2014|pp=24}} In 2018, a new Vlach council was elected, and the coalition Vlachs for Serbia won 22 of the 23 seats. Dragojević, president of the Vlach council and member of the coalition commented that their result was due to pro-Romanian Vlach political formations having either boycotted the elections or having run for the elections for the National Council of the Romanian National Minority instead.{{cite news|url=https://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/415651/Pre-cetiri-godine-Vlah-sada-Rumun|title=Пре четири године Влах, сада Румун|first=Biljana|last=Baković|newspaper=Politika|date=13 November 2018|language=sr}}

Today there is a movement among some members of the Timok Vlachs to align themselves with Romania and identify themselves as part of the Romanian identity in Serbia.{{sfn|Sorescu Marinković et al.|2021|p=130}} As of 2009, an estimated two to three thousand Timok Vlachs were attending secondary schools and universities in Romania. It has been said that the Serbian political elite might fear that part of these could return to Serbia with a Romanian national consciousness that could influence the rest of the Timok Vlachs. The Association of the Vlachs of Serbia ({{langx|sr|Zajednica Vlaha Srbija|link=no}} / {{lang|sr-Cyrl|Заједница Влаха Србије}}, ZVS) stands out for this. The ZVS has made claims such as that Romania is the motherland of the Timok Vlachs, that they speak Romanian and that Serbia tries to assimilate the Vlachs by referring to them in this way to separate them from the Romanian nation. The Vlach National Party is a Wlach political party in Serbia led by Predrag Balašević. The party claims that the Serbia is trying to manipulate the culture and history of the Vlachs and impose a "historical cultural construct" on them. It also blends the Timok Vlachs with the Romanians from Romania into the same group. Timoc Press is another pro-Romanian organization in the Timok Valley, funded by the Department for Romanians Everywhere of the Romanian government, which considers the Timok Vlachs and the Romanians a single nation, the former of which is being assimilated by the Serbs. Even so, there are anti-Romanian organizations. An example is the Vlach Democratic Party (VDS), whose president in 2012, Siniša Celojević, declared that "The Vlachs of Serbia are not, and will never be, members of the Romanian national minority", which Romania claims groups outside its borders to reinforce their historical continuity and national identity and that Romania takes advantage of the lack of minority rights for the Timok Vlachs to "infiltrate" among them. Celojević was a member of the Vlach National Council.{{sfn|Manovich|2014|pp=25–26}}

File:The Ethnological map by Elisee Reclus.jpg]]

The ethnonym is Rumâni and the community Rumâni din Sârbie,{{Cite web |title=Statut |url=http://www.vdss-petrovac.com/statut.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903054552/http://www.vdss-petrovac.com/statut.php |archive-date=2011-09-03 |access-date=2014-03-01 |website=vdss-petrovac.com |language=sr}} translated into English as "Romanians from Serbia".{{Cite web |title=Odluka o promeni sedišta |url=http://www.vdss-petrovac.com/dokumenta.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903055803/http://www.vdss-petrovac.com/dokumenta.php |archive-date=2011-09-03 |website=vdss-petrovac.com |language=sr}} They are also known in Romanian as Valahii din Serbia or Românii din Timoc.{{cite book|author=C. Constante, Anton Galopenția|year=1943|title=Românii din Timoc: Românii dinitre Dunăre, Timoc și Morava|page=50|quote=Apoi, Valahii din Serbia, sunt harnici, muncitori, economi şi de mare dârzenie în privinţa portului şi a limbei.}} Although ethnographically and linguistically related to the Romanians, within the Vlach community there are divergences on whether or not they belong to the Romanian nation and whether or not their minority should be amalgamated with the Romanian minority in Vojvodina.[http://assembly.coe.int/main.asp?Link=/documents/workingdocs/doc08/edoc11528.htm "The situation of national minorities in Vojvodina and of the Romanian ethnic minority in Serbia"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123185605/http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc08/EDOC11528.htm |date=2012-01-23 }}, at the Council of Europe, 14 February 2008

In a Romanian-Yugoslav agreement of November 4, 2002, the Yugoslav authorities agreed to recognize the Romanian identity of the Vlach population in Central Serbia,{{cite web|url=https://adevarul.ro/news/societate/iugoslavia-recunoaste-apartenenta-vlahilor-valea-timocului-minoritatea-romaneasca-1_50ad38cf7c42d5a6639102f5/index.html |title=Iugoslavia recunoaste apartenenta vlahilor din Valea Timocului la minoritatea romaneasca|work=Adevărul|language=ro|date=6 November 2002|quote=Prin acordul privind minoritatile, semnat, luni, la Belgrad, de catre presedintii Ion Iliescu si Voislav Kostunita, statul iugoslav recunoaste dreptul apartenentei la minoritatea romaneasca din Iugoslavia al celor aproape 120.000 de vlahi (cifra neoficiala), care traiesc in Valea Timocului, in Serbia de Rasarit. Reprezentantii romanilor din Iugoslavia, profesori, ziaristi, scriitori, i-au multumit, ieri, la Pancevo, sefului statului pentru aceasta intelegere cu guvernul de la Belgrad. Acordul este considerat de importanta istorica pentru romanii din Valea Timocului, care, din timpul lui Iosip Broz Tito, traiesc fara drept la invatamant si viata religioasa in limba materna, practic nerecunoscuti ca etnie. "Nu vom face ca fostul regim, sa numim noi care sunt minoritatile nationale sau sa stergem cu guma alte minoritati", a spus, ieri, Rasim Ljajic, ministrul sarb pentru minoritati, la intalnirea de la Pancevo a presedintelui cu romanii din Iugoslavia. Deocamdata, statul iugoslav nu a recunoscut prin lege statutul vlahilor de pe Valea Timocului, insa de-acum va acorda acestora dreptul la optiunea etnica, va permite, in decembrie, constituirea Consiliului Reprezentantilor Romani si va participa in Comisia mixta romano-iugoslava la monitorizarea problemelor minoritatilor sarba si romana din cele doua state. In Iugoslavia traiesc cateva sute de mii de romani. Presedintele Ion Iliescu s-a angajat, ieri, pentru o politica mai activa privind romanii din afara granitelor: "Avem mari datorii fata de romanii care traiesc in afara granitelor. Autocritic vorbind, nu ne-am facut intotdeauna datoria. De dragul de a nu afecta relatiile noastre cu vecinii, am fost mai retinuti, mai prudenti in a sustine cauza romanilor din statele vecine. (...) Ungurii ne dau lectii din acest punct de vedere", a spus presedintele, precizand ca romanii trebuie sa-si apere cauza "pe baza de buna intelegere".}} but the agreement was not implemented.[http://www.curierulnational.ro/Specializat/2003-01-25/Sa+nu-i+uitam%2C+pe+cei...+uitati Curierul Naţional, 25 ianuarie 2003] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405135858/http://www.curierulnational.ro/Specializat/2003-01-25/Sa+nu-i+uitam%2C+pe+cei...+uitati |date=5 April 2012 }}: Chiar si acordul dintre presedintii Ion Iliescu si Voislav Kostunita, semnat la sfarsitul anului trecut, nu este respectat, in ceea ce priveste minoritatile, deoarece locuitorii din Valea Timocului, numiti vlahi, nu sunt recunoscuti ca minoritari, ci doar „grup etnic“. In April 2005, 23 deputies from the Council of Europe, representatives from Hungary, Georgia, Lithuania, Romania, Moldova, Estonia, Armenia, Azerbaïdjan, Denmark, and Bulgaria protested against Serbia's treatment of this population.[http://assembly.coe.int//Mainf.asp?link=http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc05/edoc10533.htm#TopOfPage Parliamentary Assembly, 28 April 2005] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230233921/http://assembly.coe.int//Mainf.asp?link=http%3A%2F%2Fassembly.coe.int%2FDocuments%2FWorkingDocs%2FDoc05%2Fedoc10533.htm |date=30 December 2013 }}: Deeply concerned over the cultural situation of the so-called “Vlach” Romanians dwelling in 154 ethnic Romanian localities 48 localities of mixed ethnic make-up between the Danube, Timok and Morava Rivers who since 1833 have been unable to enjoy ethnic rights in schools and churches

The Senate of Romania postponed the ratification of Serbia's candidature for membership in the European Union until the legal status and minority right of the Romanian (Vlach) population in Serbia is clarified.{{Cite web |date=26 October 2011 |title=Biroul Permanenent al Senatului a amânat votul privind ratificarea Acordului de aderare a Serbiei la UE. Motivul: drepturile românilor /vlahilor din Timoc |url=http://www.rgnpress.ro/categorii/politic/3587-biroul-permanenent-al-senatului-a-amanat-votul-privind-ratificarea-acordului-de-aderare-a-serbiei-la-ue-motivul-drepturile-romanilor-vlahilor-din-timoc.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111030003541/http://www.rgnpress.ro/categorii/politic/3587-biroul-permanenent-al-senatului-a-amanat-votul-privind-ratificarea-acordului-de-aderare-a-serbiei-la-ue-motivul-drepturile-romanilor-vlahilor-din-timoc.html |archive-date=October 30, 2011 |website=Romanian Global News |language=ro}}{{cite news |title=Rumunija će blokirati kandidaturu? |url=https://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=02&dd=23&nav_category=206&nav_id=585200 |work=B92 |date=23 February 2012 |language=Serbian}}

Predrag Balašević, president of the Vlach party of Serbia, accused the government of assimilation by using the national Vlach organization against the interests of this minority in Serbia.[http://www.pravda.rs/2011/05/30/vlasi-optuzuju-srbiju-za-asimilaciju/ Власи оптужују Србију за асимилацију - Правда] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212225657/http://www.pravda.rs/2011/05/30/vlasi-optuzuju-srbiju-za-asimilaciju/ |date=2012-02-12 }}

Since 2010, the Vlach National Council of Serbia has been led by members of leading Serbian parties (Democrat Party and Socialist Party), most of whom are ethnic Serbs having no relation to the Vlach/Romanian minority.{{cite news |last1=Ghica |first1=Sorin |title=Falşi vlahi folosiţi împotriva românilor |url=https://adevarul.ro/stiri-interne/societate/falsi-vlahi-folositi-impotriva-romanilor-1092209.html |work=Adevărul |date=29 February 2012 |language=Romanian}} Radiša Dragojević, the current president of Vlach National Council of Serbia, stated that no one has the right to ask the Vlach minority in Serbia to identify themselves as Romanian or veto anything.{{cite news |title=Драгојевић: Власи нису Румуни |url=https://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/210048/Dragojevic-Vlasi-nisu-Rumuni |work=Politika |date=28 February 2012}} As a response to mister Dragojević's statement, the cultural organizations Ariadnae Filum, Društvo za kulturu Vlaha - Rumuna Srbije, Društvo Rumuna - Vlaha „Trajan“, Društvo za kulturu, jezik i religiju Vlaha - Rumuna Pomoravlja, Udruženje za tradiciju i kulturu Vlaha „Dunav“, Centar za ruralni razvoj - Vlaška kulturna inicijativa Srbija and the Vlach Party of Serbia protested and stated that it was false.{{cite news |title=Ne gurajte probleme pod tepih |url=https://www.b92.net/info/vesti/pregled_stampe.php?yyyy=2012&mm=02&dd=29&nav_id=586595 |work=B92 |date=29 February 2012 |language=Serbian}}{{cite news |title=Vlasi (ni)su obespravljeni u Srbiji |url=https://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=02&dd=29&nav_category=12&nav_id=586593 |work=B92 |date=29 February 2012 |language=Serbian}}

According to a 2012 agreement between Romania and Serbia, members of the Vlach community that choose to declare as Romanians will have access to education, media, and religion in the Romanian language.{{cite news |title=Basesku: "Rumunski problem" naduvan |url=https://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=03&dd=02&nav_category=1262&nav_id=587330 |work=B92 |date=2 March 2012 |language=Serbian}}

• Bojan Aleksandrović, Romanian Orthodox priest in the Timok Valley
• Predrag Balašević, politician defending the identification of the Vlachs as Romanians
• Paun Es Durlić, ethnologist
• Slavoljub Gacović, ethnologist
• Miletić Mihajlović, politician
• {{ill|Izvorinka Milošević|sr|Изворинка Милошевић}}, singer of Serb and Vlach folklore
• Branko Olar, one of the best known singers of Vlach folklore from Eastern Serbia, originating from the village of Slatina near Bor
• Staniša Paunović, well-known Vlach folklore singer, originating from Negotin, from Eastern Serbia{{Cite web |date=19 November 2018 |title=Poznati vlasi: Staniša paunović |script-title=sr:Познати власи: Станиша пауновић |url=https://recnaroda.co.rs/poznati-vlasi-stanisa-paunovic/ |access-date=19 June 2022 |website=Reč naroda |language=sr |script-website=sr:Реч народа}}
• Safet Pavlović, politician and mayor of Žagubica
• Dușan Pârvulovici, activist for the minority rights of the Vlachs and their right for education in the Romanian language
• Atanasie Popovici, activist and researcher
• {{ill|Adam Puslojić|pt|Adam Púsloitch|ro|Adam Puslojić|sr|Адам Пуслојић}}, poet, translator and writer

• Romanians of Serbia
• Vlachs in medieval Serbia
• Vlachs of Croatia
• Aromanians in Serbia
• Romanian language in Serbia
• Romanians in Bulgaria

{{reflist}}

• {{cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321383067|title=Writing systems and linguistic identity of the Vlach community of Eastern Serbia|first1=Monica|last1=Huțanu|first2=Annemarie|last2=Sorescu-Marinković|journal=Diacronia|issue=7|pages=1–14|year=2018|doi=10.17684/i7A106en|doi-broken-date=28 November 2024 |doi-access=free}}
• {{cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269629889|title=The Mystery of Vlach Magic in the Rural Areas of 21st century Serbia|first1=Anđelija|last1=Ivkov-Džigurski|first2=Vedrana|last2=Babić|first3=Aleksandra|last3=Dragin|first4=Kristina|last4=Košić|first5=Ivana|last5=Blešić|journal=Eastern European Countryside|volume=18|issue=2012|pages=61–83|year=2012|doi=10.2478/v10130-012-0004-9|ref={{harvid|Ivkov-Džigurski et al.|2012}}|doi-access=free}}
• {{cite thesis|url=http://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/manovich_diane.pdf|title=Folk Linguistics and Politicized Language: the Introduction of Minority Language Education for the Vlachs in Serbia|first=Diane|last=Manovich|publisher=Central European University|type=MA|year=2014}}
• {{cite book|url=https://brill.com/view/title/59768|title=The Romance-speaking Balkans: Language and the Politics of Identity|first1=Annemarie|last1=Sorescu Marinković|first2=Mihai|last2=Dragnea|first3=Thede|last3=Kahl|first4=Blagovest|last4=Nyagulov|first5=Donald L.|last5=Dyer|first6=Angelo|last6=Costanzo|chapter="What Language do We Speak?" the Bayash in the Balkans and Mother Tongue Education |publisher=Brill Publishers|series=Brill's Studies in Language, Cognition and Culture|volume=29|pages=207–232 |year=2021|isbn=9789004452770|doi=10.1163/9789004456174_010|s2cid=242757808|ref={{harvid|Sorescu Marinković et al.|2021}}}}

• Dimitrijevic-Rufu, Dejan. Le rituel de la slava et l'imaginaire communautaire de l'unité. Les Roumains de Homolje et les Serbes en France, Revue européenne de migrations internationales. Vol. 16 N°2. Fêtes et rituels dans la migration. 2000, pp. 91–117.
• Dragić, Dragomir. Forum za kulturu Vlaha. Vlasi ili Rumuni iz istočne Srbije i "vlaško pitanje" - pitanja i odgovori; Helsinški odbor za ljudska prava u Srbiji, Beograd, 2002.
• {{citation|first=Mihai Viorel|last=Fifor|author-link=Mihai Fifor|title=Assimilation or Acculturation: Creating Identities in the New Europe. The Case of Vlachs in Serbia|journal=Cultural Identity and Ethnicity in Central Europe|publisher=Jagellonian University|location=Cracow|year=2000}}
• Sorescu-Marinković, Annemarie. "The Vlachs of North-Eastern Serbia: Fieldwork and Field Methods Today." Symposia–Caiete de Etnologie şi Antropologie. 2006.
• Sikimić, Biljana, and Annemarie Sorescu. "The Concept of Loneliness and Death among Vlachs in North-eastern Serbia." Symposia–Caiete de etnologie şi antropologie. 2004.
• Marinković, Annemarie Sorescu. "Vorbarĭ Rumîńesk: The Vlach on line Dictionary." Philologica Jassyensia 8.1 (2012): 47–60.
• Ivkov-Džigurski, Anđelija, et al. "The Mystery of Vlach Magic in the Rural Areas of 21st century Serbia." Eastern European Countryside 18 (2012): 61–83.
• Marinković, Annemarie Sorescu. "Cultura populară a românilor din Timoc–încercare de periodizare a cercetărilor etnologice." Philologica Jassyensia 2.1 (2006): 73–92.

• [http://www.zajednicavlahasrbije.com/index.html Community of Vlachs of Serbia]
• [http://www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/Vlach-serbia.htm Maps of Vlachs in north-east Serbia]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110722081517/http://www.valeatimocului.ro/Manual_Rom-Sarba.pdf History of the Romanians living on the South of the Danube] (Romanian/Serbian)
• [https://www.academia.edu/38288632/The_emergence_of_Vlach_necropolises_with_petroglyphs_in_Western_Balkans Vlach necropolises]

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