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Romanians in Serbia

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Romanians of Serbia
Romanian Orthodox Church in Vršac.
Regions with significant populations
South Banat District, Vojvodina Vojvodina;
Plurality in municipalities:
Languages
Romanian, Vlach
Religion
Predominantly Romanian Orthodox, Baptist, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, Reformed Church.

Romanians (Template:Lang-ro Template:Lang-sr) are a recognised national minority in Serbia. The total number of declared Romanians in the 2011 Serbian census[1] was 29,332, while 35,330 people declared themselves Vlachs; there are differing views among some of the Vlachs over they should be regarded as Romanians or as members of a distinctive nationality. 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,[2] but the agreement was not implemented.[3] In April 2005, many deputies from the Council of Europe protested against the position of this population in Serbian society.[4] In August 2007, they were officially recognized as a national minority, and their language was recognized as Romanian.[5] Declared Romanians are mostly concentrated in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, while declared Vlachs are mostly concentrated in north-eastern parts of Central Serbia.

Geography

Flag of the Romanian minority in Serbia

The number of Romanians and Vlachs since 2002 has decreased somewhat. In 2002, the numbers of those declaring themselves Romanians and Vlachs respectively were almost 5,000 people higher. Of the total number of 34,576 declared Romanians in the 2002 census, 30,419 live in Vojvodina and 4,157 live in Central Serbia. Of the total number of 40,054 declared Vlachs in the 2002 census, 39,953 live in Central Serbia, and 101 in Vojvodina. The Romanians of Vojvodina are mostly concentrated in eastern and central parts of the Serbian Banat, while Vlachs of Central Serbia are mostly concentrated in north-eastern parts of Central Serbia. The largest concentration of Romanians in Vojvodina could be found in the municipalities of Alibunar (26.47%) and Vršac (10.87%). The Vlach population is concentrated mostly in the region limited by Morava River (west), Danube River (north) and Timok River (south-east).

History

Vojvodina

After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles, which defined the borders between Romania and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, left a Romanian minority of 75,223 people (1910 census in Vojvodina) inside the borders of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In the 1921 census in Vojvodina, Romanian-speakers numbered 65,197 people.

According to the 1991 census, there were 42,331 Romanians in Yugoslavia, of whom 38,832 lived in Vojvodina (1.93% of the entire population of Vojvodina).

Central Serbia

Main article: Vlachs of Serbia

It is likely that a part of the vlachs can trace their ancient roots to this region. The present geographic location of the Vlachs is near a former location in the medieval Second Bulgarian Empire (also called the Empire of Vlachs and Bulgars)[6] of the Asens, suggesting their continuity in the area. In addition a Vlach population in the regions around Braničevo (near the ancient Roman city of Viminacium) is attested by 15th century Ottoman defters (tax records). The modern Vlachs occupy the same area where in antiquity the Romans had a strong presence for many centuries: Viminacium and Felix Romuliana.

However, some of the Vlachs of north-eastern parts of Central Serbia were settled there from regions north of the Danube by the Habsburgs at the beginning of the 18th century. The origins of these Vlachs are indicated by their own self-designations: "Ungureani (Ungureni)" (serb. Ungurjani), i.e. those who came from Hungary (that is, Banat and Transylvania) and "Ţărani" (serb. Carani), who are either an autochthonic population of the region (their name means "people of the country" or "countrymen"), either they came from Wallachia (Template:Lang-ro - "Romanian State").

The area roughly defined by the Morava, the Danube and the Timok rivers where most of the Vlachs live became part of modern Serbia. Until 1833 the eastern Serbian border was the Homolje-Mountains (the slopes of the Serbian Carpathians) and the state had no common border with Walachia. Prior to that, the land was part of the Ottoman Empire (Pashaluk of Vidin and Pashaluk of Smederevo) and Habsburg Empire (Governorate of Serbia).

The second wave of Vlachs from present-day Romania came in the middle of the 19th century. In 1835 feudalism was fully abolished in the Principality of Serbia and smaller groups from Wallachia came there to enjoy the status of free peasants. (1856: 104,343 Romanians lived in Serbia, 1859: 122,593 Romanians)

According to the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1919, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes annexed from Bulgaria also a small section along the Timok River in the municipality and District of Zaječar, composed by 8 localities (7 populated by Romanians and 1 populated by Bulgarians).[7]

Origins of Vlachs/Romanians of Northeast Serbia

Main articles: Vlachs and Origin of the Romanians
See also: History of Banat and History of Wallachia

The origins of the Vlachs, who live in northeastern Central Serbia, are not well known to most Vlachs, principally because the subject is forbidden to be taught in Serbian schools.[8] As Daco-Romanian-speakers, the Vlachs have a connection to the Roman heritage in Serbia. Following Roman withdrawal from the province of Dacia at the end of the 3rd century, the name of the Roman region was changed to Dacia Aureliana, and (later Dacia Ripensis) spread over most of what is now called Serbia and Bulgaria, and an undetermined number of Romanized Dacians (Carpi) were settled there.[9][10] Strong Roman presence in the region persisted through the end of Justinian's reign in the 6th century.[11][page needed]

The region where Vlachs predominantly live later on was part of the Second Bulgarian Empire, whose first rulers, the Asens, are considered Vlach.[12] King Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia had most of Timok after his conquering of rival King Stephen Dragutin's lands. The chroniclers of the crusaders describe meeting Vlachs in the 12th and 13th century in various parts of modern Serbia.[13][14] Serbian documents from the 13th and 14th century mention Vlachs, including Emperor Dušan the Mighty, in his prohibition of intermarriage between Serbs and Vlachs.[13][14] 14th and 15th century Romanian (Wallachian) rulers built churches in NE Serbia.[15][page needed] 15th century Turkish tax records (defters) list Vlachs in the region of Branicevo in NE Serbia, near the ancient Roman municipium and colonia of Viminacium.[16][page needed]

Starting in the early 18th century NE Serbia was settled by Romanians (then known by their international exonym as Vlachs) from Banat, parts of Transylvania, and Oltenia (Lesser Walachia).[13] These are the Ungureni (Ungurjani), Munteni (Munćani) and Bufeni (Bufani). Today about three quarters of the Vlach population speak the Ungurean subdialect. In the 19th century other groups of Romanians, originating in Oltenia (Lesser Wallachia), also settled south of the Danube.[17] These are the Ţărani (Carani), who form some 25% of the modern population. The very name Ţărani indicates their origin in Ţara Româneasca, i.e., "The Romanian Land," Wallachia and Oltenia. It should be noted that from the 15th through the 18th centuries large numbers of Serbs also migrated across the Danube, but in the opposite direction, to both Banat and Ţara Româneasca. Significant migration ended with the establishment of the kingdoms of Serbia and Rumania, respectively, in the second half of the 19th century.

The lack of detailed census records and the linguistic effects of the Ungureni and Ţărani on the entire Vlach population make it difficult to determine what fraction of the present Vlachs can trace their origins directly to the ancient south-of-the-Danube Vlachs. The Vlachs of NE Serbia form a contiguous linguistic, cultural and historic group with the Vlachs in the region of Vidin in Bulgaria, as well as the Romanians of Banat and Oltenia (Lesser Wallachia).

Historical population

Ethnic map of the Balkans from 1861, by G. Lejean
Ethnic composition of the Balkans according to the Atlas Général Vidal-Lablache, Librairie Armand Colin, Paris, 1898.
The ethnological map of the Romanian population by Heinrich Kiepert, 1876.
The ethnological map of the Romanian population by Élisée Reclus
Official usage of Romanian language in Vojvodina (together with Serbian and other languages)
  official at the municipality level
  official in parts of the municipality

Censuses from 1880 to 1931 recorded speakers of Romance languages (Banat Romanians, Eastern Serbian Vlachs, Aromanians), while censuses from 1948 to 2002 recorded Romanians as an ethnic group.

  • 1816: 97,215 Romance speakers (10% of Serbia's population.)[18]
  • 1856: 104,343 Romance speakers in Central Serbia
  • 1859: 122,593 Romance speakers in Central Serbia
  • 1866: 127,545 Romance speakers in Central Serbia (10,5% of Serbia's population)[19]
  • 1880: 69,668 Romance speakers in Vojvodina
  • 1884: 149,713 Romance speakers in Central Serbia
  • 1890: 143,684 Romance speakers in Central Serbia, 73,492 in Vojvodina
  • 1895: 159,000 Romance speakers (6,4% of Serbia's population)[20]
  • 1900: 74,718 Romance speakers in Vojvodina
  • 1910: 75,223 Romance speakers in Vojvodina
  • 1921: 159,549 Romance speakers in Serbia (Vojvodina is not included)[21] 65,197 Romance speakers in Vojvodina
  • 1931: 78,000 Romance speakers in Vojvodina; 57,000 Romance speakers were recorded in Eastern Serbia (52,635 in the Morava Banovina and the rest in southern parts of Danube Banovina south of the Danube) [citation needed]
  • 1948: 59,263 Romanians
  • 1953: 57,218 Romanians; 198,793 Vlach-speakers in central Serbia (169,670 declared as Serbs, 29,000 as Vlachs) [citation needed]
  • 1961: 57,259 Romanians, 1,330 Vlachs
  • 1971: 52,987 Romanians
  • 1981: 47,289 Romanians; 135,000 people declared Vlach as their mother language (population figure given for the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)[22]
  • 1991: 38,832 Romanians; 71,536 Vlach-speakers in Serbia (of those 53,721 Serbs, 16,539 Vlachs, 42 Romanians; out of the 17,807 declared Vlachs, 677 Serbo-Croat-speakers) [citation needed]
  • 2002: 30,419 Romanians; 40,054 declared Vlachs, 54,818 people declared Vlach as their mother language (population figures given for entire Serbia) or 39,953 declared Vlachs, 54,726 people declared Vlach as their mother language (population figures given for Central Serbia only)[23]

By some Romanian and Western European organizations, in eastern Serbia live around 250,000 [24][25] people of Romanian(vlach) origin.

Culture

Language and religion

Main articles: Official status of Romanian language in Vojvodina and Vlach language in Serbia
See also: Eastern Romance languages and Romanian language
Romanian/Vlach language in Vojvodina and Central Serbia, census 2002
  1-5%
  5-10%
  10-15%
  15-25%
  25-35%
  over 35%

In Vojvodina, Romanian enjoys the status of official language and Romanians in this province receive a wide range of minority rights, including access to state-funded media and education in their native language. Most of the Romanians and Vlachs of Serbia are Eastern Orthodox by faith, belonging to the Romanian Orthodox Church (Romanians in Vojvodina) and Serbian Orthodox Church (Vlachs of Central Serbia). The relative isolation of the Vlachs has permitted the survival of various pre-Christian religious rites that are frowned upon by the Orthodox Church. Like the Serbs, Vlachs celebrate the 'slava', though its meaning is chtonic (related to the house and farmland) rather than familial.

The language spoken by one major group of Vlachs is similar to the Oltenian variety spoken in Romania while that of the other major group is similar to the Romanian variety of Banat.

Settlements

Settlements in the Serbian Banat (Vojvodina) with a Romanian majority or plurality are (2002 census data):

Vlachs of Serbia

Main article: Vlachs of Serbia

The ethnic Vlachs, a Daco-Romanian-speaking (bilingual) ethnic group in eastern Serbia numbering 40.054 people (54,818 Vlach speakers), and who have their separate national council, are sometimes considered a part of the Romanian minority in Serbia.


The Vlachs (endonym: Rumâni, Template:Lang-sr) are an ethnic minority in eastern Serbia, culturally and linguistically related to Romanians.[26][27][28] They mostly live in the Timočka Krajina region (roughly corresponding to the districts of Bor and Zaječar), but also in Braničevo and Pomoravlje districts. A small Vlach population also exists in Smederevo and Velika Plana (Podunavlje District), and in the municipalities of Aleksinac and Kruševac (Rasina District).

Romanians (Vlachs) from the village of Zdrelo in 1868
Ethnological map of the Romanian population by Heinrich Kiepert, 1876.
Ethnological map of the Romanian population by Élisée Reclus

The ethnonym is Rumâni and the community Rumâni din Sârbie,[29] translated into English as "Romanians from Serbia".[30] They also known as Valahii din Serbia.[31] The Romanians in Serbia call their community Românii din Serbia. 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.[8]

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,[32][dubious – discuss] but the agreement was not implemented.[33] 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.[34]

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.[35][36]

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.[37]

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.[38] Radiša Dragojević, the current president of Vlach National Council of Serbia, who is not a Vlach, but an ethnic Serb,[39] stated that no one has the right to ask the Vlach minority in Serbia to identify themselves as Romanian or veto anything, firstly because there already is a recognized Romanian minority within Serbia, and because Vlach people in Serbia do not feel discriminated or underprivileged. He also said that Vlachs regard Serbia as their true homeland.[38]

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.[40][41]

On 1 March 2012, Romania and Serbia signed an agreement concerning the Vlach population in Serbia.[42] According to the agreement, members of the Vlach community can declare themselves to be Romanians, and those who do so can have access to education, media and religion in their language.[43]

Origins

Main articles: Vlachs and Origin of the Romanians
See also: History of Banat and History of Wallachia

Following Roman withdrawal from the province of Dacia at the end of the 3rd century, the name of the Roman region was changed to Dacia Aureliana, (later Dacia Ripensis); it extended over most of what is now Serbia and Bulgaria, and an undetermined number of Romanized Dacians (Carpi) were settled there.[44][45] A strong Roman presence persisted in the region through the end of Justinian's I reign in the 6th century.[46][page needed]

The region where Romanians, also known as Vlachs, predominantly lived was later part of the Second Bulgarian Empire, whose first rulers, the Asens, are considered to have been Vlachs.[47] King Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia ruled most of Timok after he conquered the land of a rival king, Stephen Dragutin. Chroniclers of the crusaders describe encountering Vlachs in the 12th and 13th century in various parts of modern Serbia.[13][14] Serbian documents from the 13th and 14th century mention Vlachs, including a prohibition of intermarriage between Serbs and Vlachs by Emperor Dušan the Mighty.[13][14] Romanian (Wallachian) rulers built churches in northeastern Serbia in the 14th and 15th centuries.[15][page needed] Turkish tax records (defters) from the 15th century list Vlachs in the region of Branicevo in northeastern Serbia, near the ancient Roman municipium and colonia of Viminacium.[48][page needed]

Starting in the early 18th century northeastern Serbia was settled by Romanians (then known by their international exonym as Vlachs) from Banat, parts of Transylvania, and Oltenia (Lesser Walachia).[13] These are the Ungureni (Ungurjani), Munteni (Munćani) and Bufeni (Bufani). Today, about three quarters of the Vlach population speak the Ungurean subdialect. In the 19th century other groups of Romanians originating in Oltenia (Lesser Wallachia) also settled south of the Danube.[49] These are the Ţărani (Carani), who form some 25% of the modern population. Their very name Ţărani indicates their origin in Ţara Româneasca, i.e., "The Romanian Land," Wallachia and Oltenia. From the 15th through the 18th centuries large numbers of Serbs also migrated across the Danube, but in the opposite direction, to both Banat and Ţara Româneasca. Significant migration ended with the establishment of the kingdoms of Serbia and Romania in the second half of the 19th century.

The lack of detailed census records and the linguistic influence of the Ungureni and Ţărani on the entire Vlach population make it difficult to determine what fraction of the present Vlachs can trace their origins directly to the ancient south-of-the-Danube Vlachs. The Vlachs of northeastern Serbia form a contiguous linguistic, cultural and historic group with the Vlachs in the region of Vidin in Bulgaria as well as the Romanians of Banat and Oltenia (Lesser Wallachia).

Some authors[who?] consider that the majority of Vlachs/Romanians in Timocka Krajina are descendants of Romanians that migrated from Hungary in the 18th and 19th centuries.[50]

Culture

Language

Main articles: Official status of Romanian language in Vojvodina and Vlach language in Serbia
See also: Eastern Romance languages and Romanian language

The language spoken by the Vlachs consists of two distinct Romanian subdialects spoken in regions neighboring Romania: one major group of Vlachs speaks the subdialect spoken in Mehedinţi County in western Oltenia, while the other major group speaks a subdialect similar to the Romanian subdialect spoken in the neighboring region of Banat.

The Romanian language is not in use in local administration, not even where members of the minority represent more than 15% of the population. (according to Serbian law, the use of a distinct language in local administration is allowed in places where the minority speaking it comprises a percentage of the population higher than 15%).[8]

  • Romanian vocabulary in Central Serbia. Research by Gustav Weigand:
  • The extent of Romanian
    The extent of Romanian
  • The extent of the Banatian dialect in central Serbia
    The extent of the Banatian dialect in central Serbia

Religion

The Romanian Orthodox Church, Malajnica, built in 2004, is the first Romanian church in eastern Serbia in 170 years, during which time Romanians in Timoc were not allowed to hear liturgical services in their native language.[51][52][53] 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 Valea Timocului and the confessional rights of the Vlachs.[54]

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 Timočka Krajina.[8] At Malajnica, a "Vlach" priest belonging to the Romanian Orthodox Church encountered deliberately-raised administrative barriers when he attempted to build a church.[8][55] Other Romanian Orthodox churches are planned or under construction in Jasikovo, Cuprija, Bigrenica and Samarinovac. Additionally, a Romanian Orthodox monastery is under construction in Malajnica. The Romanian Orthodox churches in Eastern Central Serbia are subordinated to the Protopresbyteriat Dacia Ripensis with its seat in Negotin. The protopresbyteriat is subordinated to the Romanian Orthodox diocese Dacia Felix with its seat in Vršac.

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 praznic or slava, though its meaning is chtonic (related to the house and farmland) rather than familial.[citation needed] Other Balkan peoples, notably the Serbs, adopted the Christian traditions of the Vlachs. The customs of the Vlachs are very similar to those from Southern Romania (Walachia).[56]

Subgroups

Vlachs are divided into many groups, each speaking their own dialectal variant:

  • the Ţărani (Carani) of the Bor, Negotin and Zaječar regions are closer to Oltenia (Lesser Walachia) in their speech and music. The Ţărani have the saying "Nu dau un leu pe el" (He's not worth even a leu). The reference to "leu" (lion) as currency most likely goes back to the 17th century when the Dutch-issued daalder (leeuwendaalder) bearing the image of a lion was in circulation in the Romanian principalities and elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire whose own currency was habitually being debased by the government. In the Romanian principalities, as well as in Bulgaria, the leeuwendaalder (in Romanian and Bulgarian leu and lev, respectively) came to symbolize a strong currency. Indeed on gaining independence in the 19th century both countries adopted this name for their new currencies. Since newly independent Serbia named its currency (the dinar) after the Roman denarius, the reference to the leu among the Ţărani is an indication of their connection to, if not origin in, what is now Romania.
  • the Ungureni or Ungureani (Ungurjani) of Homolje are related to the Romanians of Banat and Transylvania, since Ungureni (compare with the word "Hungarians") is a term used by the Romanians of Wallachia to refer to their kin who once lived in provinces formerly part of the Kingdom of Hungary. The connection is evident not only in vocabulary, but also in the similarities of dialectal phonology and folk music motifs, as well as in sayings such as "Ducă-se pe Mureş" (May the Mureş take him/it away), a reference to the Transylvanian river.
    • Ungureni Munteni (Ungurjani-Munćani), meaning: "the ungureni from the mountains"
  • Bufani are immigrants from Lesser Walachia (Oltenia).

There has been considerable intermixing between the Ungureni and Ţărani so that a dialect has evolved sharing peculiarities of both regions. There is also a population of Vlachophone (Vlach-speaking) Romani centered around the village of Lukovo, as well as a few Aromanian families who live in Knjaževac, but both are tiny migrant groups.

Population

In the 2002 census 40,054 people in Serbia declared themselves ethnic Vlachs, and 54,818 people declared themselves speakers of the Vlach language.[23] The Vlachs of Serbia are recognized as a minority, like the Romanians of Serbia, who number 34,576 according to the 2002 census. On the census, the Vlachs declared themselves either as Serbs, Vlachs or Romanians. Therefore, the "real" number of people of Vlach origin could be much greater than the number of recorded Vlachs, both due to mixed marriages with Serbs and also Serbian national feeling among some Vlachs.

Historical population

Ethnic map of the Balkans from 1861, by Guillaume Lejean
Ethnic map of the Balkans prior to the First Balkan War, by Paul Vidal de la Blache.
Map of Balkans with regions inhabited by Vlachs highlighted

The following numbers from census data suggest the possible number of Vlachs:

  • 1816: 97,215 Romanians (10% of Serbia's population.)[57]
  • 1856: 104,343 Romanians[58]
  • 1859: 122,593 Romanians
  • 1866: 127,545 Romanians (10.5% of Serbia's population)[59]
  • 1884: 149,713 Romanians
  • 1890: 143,684 Romanians
  • 1895: 159,000 Romanians (6.4% of Serbia's population)[60]
  • 1921: 159,549 Romanians/Cincars by mother tongue in Yugoslavia
  • 1931: 57,000 Romanians-Vlachs by mother tongue were recorded in Eastern Serbia (52,635 in the Morava Banovina and the rest in southern parts of Danube Banovina, south of the Danube).
  • 1961: 1,330 Vlachs
  • 1981: 135,000 people declared Vlach as their mother language (population figure given for the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)[61]
  • 2002: 40,054 declared Vlachs; 54,818 people declared Vlach as their mother language (population figures given for entire Serbia); 39,953 declared Vlachs, 54,726 people declared Vlach as their mother language (population figures given for Central Serbia only)[23]
  • 2011: 35,330 declared Vlachs; 29,332 declared Romanians (figures include the entire population of Serbia)[62]

The Vlach (Romanian) population of Central Serbia is concentrated mostly in the region bordered by the Morava River (west), Danube River (north) and Timok River (south-east). See also: List of settlements in Serbia inhabited by Vlachs.

According to some Romanian and Western European organizations, around 250,000[63][64] people of Romanian(vlach) origin live in eastern Serbia.

Identity

Main article: Vlachs

The term Vlach is the English transcription of the Serbian term for this group (Vlasi), while Roumanians or Romanians is the English transcription of its Romanian counterpart (român/rumân).[65][66]

Despite their recognition as a separate ethnic group by the Serbian government, Vlachs are cognate to Romanians in the cultural and linguistic sense. Some Romanians, as well as international linguists and anthropologists, consider Serbia's Vlachs to be a subgroup of Romanians. Additionally, the Movement of Romanians-Vlachs in Serbia, which represents some Vlachs, has called for the recognition of the Vlachs as a Romanian national minority, giving them rights similar to those of the Romanians of Vojvodina. However, the results of the last census showed that most Vlachs of Eastern Serbia opted for the Serbian exonym vlasi (= Vlachs) rather than rumuni (= Romanians).[23] As a result of serbianization, most Vlachs declared themselves to be "Serbs" on censusus taken by Communist Yugoslavia, but the number of those who preferred to declare themselves as Vlachs or Romanians significantly increased from 1991 (16,539 declared vlasi and 42 declared rumuni) to 2001 (39,953 declared vlasi and 4,157 declared rumuni).

Romania has given modest financial support to the Vlachs in Serbia for the preservation of their culture and language, since at present the Vlachs' language is not recognized officially in any localities where they form a majority, there is no education in their mother tongue, and there is no Vlach media or education funded by the Serbian state. There are also no church services in Vlach. Until very recently in the regions populated by Vlachs the official policy of the Serbian Orthodox church opposed the giving of non-Serbian baptismal names.

On the other hand, some Vlachs consider themselves to be simply Serbs that speak the Vlach language.[citation needed]

Vlach is commonly used as a historical umbrella term for all Latin peoples in Southeastern Europe (Romanians proper or Daco-Romanians, Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians). After the foundation of the Romanian state in the 19th century, Romanians living in the Romanian Old Kingdom and in Austria-Hungary were only seldom called "Vlachs" by foreigners, the use of the exonym "Romanians" was encouraged even by officials, and the Romanian population ceased to use the exonym "Vlach" for their own designation. Only in the Serbian and Bulgarian Kingdom, where the officials did not encourage the population to use the modern exonym "Romanian", was the old designation "Vlach" retained, but the term "Romanian" was used in statistical reports (but only up to the Interwar period, when the designation "Romanian" was changed into "Vlach").[67] For this reason, the Romanians of Vojvodina (hence those who lived in Austria-Hungary) today prefer to use the modern exonym "Romanian", while those of Central Serbia still use the ancient exonym "Vlach". However, both groups use the endonym "Romanians", calling their language "Romanian" (română or rumână).[68][69]

In some notes of the government of Serbia, officials recognise that "certainly members of this population have similar characteristics with Romanians, and the language and folklore ride to their Romanian origin". The representatives of the Vlach minority sustain their Romanian origin.[70]

Notable Vlachs

See also

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ Adevărul, 6 Noiembrie 2002: 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.
  3. ^ Curierul Naţional, 25 ianuarie 2003: 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“.
  4. ^ Parlamentary Assembly, 28 April 2005: 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
  5. ^ România Liberă, 16 August 2007: Romanii din Valea Timocului, cunoscuti drept vlahi, au obtinut recunoasterea statutului de minoritate nationala. Decizia guvernului de la Belgrad inseamna, printre altele, ca limba romana ar putea fi predata in premiera in scolile din Serbia unde romanii timoceni sunt majoritari, transmite BBC, preluat de Rompres.
  6. ^ According to Encyclopaedia Britannica the state is also called "The Vlach-Bulgarian Empire"
  7. ^ Tribalia
  8. ^ a b c d e "The situation of national minorities in Vojvodina and of the Romanian ethnic minority in Serbia", at the Council of Europe, 14 February 2008
  9. ^ Alaric Watson, Aurelian and the Third Century, Routlege, 1999.
  10. ^ http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ukf-lEYl3FUC&pg=PR3&dq=Alaric+Watson,+Aurelian+and+the+Third+Century,+Routledge,+1999.&hl=en&ei=vDOVTs3eKeqK4gTBtqCYCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Roman%20withdrawal%20&f=false page 157
  11. ^ William Rosen, Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe, Viking Adult, 2007.
  12. ^ Wolff, Robert Lee Wolff, The Second Bulgarian Empire: Its Origin and History to 1204, SpeculumVolume 24, Issue 2 , 1949.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Template:Hr iconZef Mirdita, Vlasi u historiografiji, Hrvatski institut za povijest, Zagreb 2004.
  14. ^ a b c d Noel Malcolm, Kosovo, A short History, University Press, NY, 1999.
  15. ^ a b Template:De icon Felix Kanitz, Serbien, Leipzig, 1868.
  16. ^ Noel Malcolm, Bosnia: A short History, University Press, NY, 1994.
  17. ^ Template:Sr icon Kosta Jovanovic, Negotinska Krajina i Kljuc, Belgrade, 1940
  18. ^ Template:Ro icon V. Arion; Vasile Pârvan; G. Vâlsan; Pericle Papahagi; G. Bogdan-Duică. România şi popoarele balcanice (1913). Tipografia Românească. Bucureşti, p. 22
  19. ^ Geographisches Handbuch zu Andrees Handatlas (Leipzig und Bielefeld, 1882): 1866 zählte man 1.058.189 Serben, 127.545 Rumänen, 24.607 Zigeuner, 2589 Deutsche und 3256 andere.
  20. ^ Geographisches Handbuch zu Andrees Handatlas 1902: Fast die ganze Bevölkerung, über 2 Mill, besteht aus Serben, außerdem gab es, nach der Zählung von 1895, 159.000 Rumänen und 46.000 Zigeuner
  21. ^ Official results of the 1921 census from Serbia
  22. ^ Template:Sr icon Ranko Bugarski, Jezici, Beograd, 1996.
  23. ^ a b c d Template:Sr icon Template:PDFlink, p. 2 and Template:PDFlink, p. 12
  24. ^ [2]
  25. ^ [3]
  26. ^ p. 68
  27. ^ "Istorija postojanja Vlaha". Nacionalni savet Vlaha. Nacionalni savet Vlaha. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  28. ^ Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
  29. ^ Account Suspended
  30. ^ Account Suspended
  31. ^ C. Constante, Anton Galopenția (1943). Românii din Timoc: Românii dinitre Dunăre, Timoc și Morava. p. 50. Apoi, Valahii din Serbia, sunt harnici, muncitori, economi şi de mare dârzenie în privinţa portului şi a limbei.
  32. ^ Adevărul, November 6, 2002: 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".
  33. ^ Curierul Naţional, 25 ianuarie 2003: 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“.
  34. ^ Parliamentary Assembly, 28 April 2005: 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
  35. ^ 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
  36. ^ B92 - Vesti - Rumunija će blokirati kandidaturu?
  37. ^ Власи оптужују Србију за асимилацију - Правда
  38. ^ a b Драгојевић: Власи нису Румуни : Тема дана : ПОЛИТИКА
  39. ^ Falşi vlahi folosiţi împotriva românilor | adevarul.ro
  40. ^ B92 - Prenosimo - Ne gurajte probleme pod tepih
  41. ^ B92 - Vesti - Vlasi (ni)su obespravljeni u Srbiji
  42. ^ B92 - Vesti - Sve je rešeno, Srbiji kandidatura
  43. ^ B92 - Vesti - Basesku: "Rumunski problem" naduvan
  44. ^ Alaric Watson, Aurelian and the Third Century, Routlege, 1999.
  45. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=ukf-lEYl3FUC&pg=PR3&dq=Alaric+Watson,+Aurelian+and+the+Third+Century,+Routledge,+1999.&hl=en&ei=vDOVTs3eKeqK4gTBtqCYCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Roman%20withdrawal%20&f=false page 157
  46. ^ William Rosen, Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe, Viking Adult, 2007.
  47. ^ Wolff, Robert Lee Wolff, The Second Bulgarian Empire: Its Origin and History to 1204, Speculum Volume 24, Issue 2, 1949.
  48. ^ Noel Malcolm, Bosnia: A short History, University Press, NY, 1994.
  49. ^ Template:Sr icon Kosta Jovanovic, Negotinska Krajina i Kljuc, Belgrade, 1940
  50. ^ Aspects of the Balkans: continuity and change. Contributions to the International Balkan Conference held at UCLA, October 23–28, 1969
  51. ^ Xenophobic actions against Timoc Romanians
  52. ^ Drasko Djenovic (9). "SERBIA: Romanian priest to pay for official destruction of his church". F18News. Forum 18 News Service. Retrieved 26 June 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  53. ^ "Haiducul credintei din Valea Timocului, Boian Alexandrovici, decorat de presedintele Basescu" Template:Ro icon
  54. ^ Biserica Română din Timoc a fost recunoscută de către Curtea Supremă de Justiţie a Serbiei - Ziua de Vest
  55. ^ "Biserica românească din Malainiţa ameninţată din nou", BBC Romanian, 16 September 2005
  56. ^ http://www.ziarullumina.ro/articole;940;1;24534;0;Obiceiuri-de-inmormantare-la-romanii-din-Timoc.html
  57. ^ Template:Ro icon V. Arion; Vasile Pârvan; G. Vâlsan; Pericle Papahagi; G. Bogdan-Duică. România şi popoarele balcanice (1913). Tipografia Românească. Bucureşti, p. 22
  58. ^ Guillaume Lejean, Ethnographie de la Turquie d'Europe, Gotha. Justus Perthes 1861
  59. ^ Geographisches Handbuch zu Andrees Handatlas (Leipzig und Bielefeld, 1882): 1866 zählte man 1.058.189 Serben, 127.545 Rumänen, 24.607 Zigeuner, 2589 Deutsche und 3256 andere.
  60. ^ Geographisches Handbuch zu Andrees Handatlas 1902: Fast die ganze Bevölkerung, über 2 Mill, besteht aus Serben, außerdem gab es, nach der Zählung von 1895, 159.000 Rumänen und 46.000 Zigeuner
  61. ^ Template:Sr icon Ranko Bugarski, Jezici, Beograd, 1996.
  62. ^ Cite error: The named reference autogenerated2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  63. ^ Cite error: The named reference dprp.gov.ro was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  64. ^ Cite error: The named reference autogenerated1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  65. ^ Ziua.net
  66. ^ Interview with Predrag Balašević, president of the Romanian/Vlach Democratic Party of Serbia: "We all know that we call ourselves in Romanian Romanians and in Serbian Vlachs."
  67. ^ [4] Serbian/Romanian. The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia. The Vlachs/Romanians or the Romanians of Eastern Serbia and the "Vlach/Romanian question". Bor 2000/2001/2002.
  68. ^ Website of the Federaţia Rumânilor din Serbie
  69. ^ Reportaj printre românii din estul Serbiei
  70. ^ Viorel Dolha, Totul despre românii din Timoc (All about Romanians in Timoc)
  71. ^ "SERBIA: Romanian priest to pay for official destruction of his church"
  72. ^ Template:Ro "Haiducul credintei din Valea Timocului, Boian Alexandrovici, decorat de presedintele Basescu"

Notable people

See also

References

Sources

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