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The Vlach language and culture are part of most European cultures that are on their way to vanish

On 22nd May 1905 the Turkish sultan Abdul Hamid II signed the Decree Irade, thus for the first time recognizing the Vlachs as separate entity and guaranteeing all basic human rights.

But after the end of the World War I and the new geopolitical map of the Balkans, all these rights were denied and a cultural genocide started upon the Vlachs until the proclamation of the Republic of Macedonia as a sovereign and independent country. With the new Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia from 1991, Vlachs were again recognized as separate entity, with guaranteed human rights and they are constitutional part of the Macedonian country. The document Reference 1333 should be mentioned here, on 24th June 1997 adopted by the Council of Europe, a document recommending all European countries where Vlach population lives to guarantee basic human rights to the Vlachs, to impel and stimulate them to keep their identity, language and culture, as part of most European cultures. However, the Republic of Macedonia is the only country in the world that recognizes the Vlachs as separate entity with its Constitution. It is the first country in the recent history of Vlachs (since October 1995) to enable optional learning of the Vlach language as a mother tongue in primary schools in all towns where there is bigger concentration of Vlachs and the only country where the Vlachs have the right to organize themselves politically. As an orthodox population, since June 2003 the Vlachs have had the right of religious service in Vlach language in the Vlach church Ss Constantine and Elena in Bitola. The Macedonian Radio and Television is the only national television in the world that broadcasts TV programs in Vlach and the Faculty of Pedagogy from Stip is the only high-educational institution where the Vlach language has recently started being studied as an optional subject. Therefore, the eyes of all countries where Vlachs live should be turned towards the Republic of Macedonia and it should be an example how basic human rights should be respected. However, most of the Vlach population thinks that all these rights have been given only declaratively, since all this is hardly realized in practice. Unofficially, today in the Republic of Macedonia there are about 100,000 Vlachs, some of them only know they are of Vlach origin, but they do not speak the language. They are not forcedly assimilated, but voluntarily integrated in the society. From a historic point of view, the Vlachs have contributed for the development of other cultures and civilizations and in the late history they have never strived for creating their own country. They say that Vlachs are little, but well placed. Is it enough to conclude that the Vlachs enjoy all basic human rights? It certainly isn’t. The right comes from the individual, but it is important whether the community as collectivity enjoys the basic human rights. So declaratively the Vlachs in the Republic of Macedonia have guaranteed rights to speak their mother tongue, to develop their national, cultural and religious identity, to cherish the long tradition and their national values. That is why the Vlach associations have been formed, civil society organizations and political parties whose aim is to fight for protection of their political, economic and social rights and establishing new relations, friendships and introducing the public with who they are and how much the Vlachs have contributed for the development of the Macedonian country. The process of globalization has entered all spheres of social living and it also implies meeting other cultures and civilizations, thus including the Vlach culture, history, tradition, customs…Should we find ourselves in a situation someone to ask us: “Are you a Walach?” This is too much, nowadays not to know that it is about a Vlach, not Walach. Are there people who do not know who the Vlachs are? How long will the Vlachs have to prove their national identity by holding symposiums on this topic? Isn’t it enough from what has been said so far? Do only Macedonians and Albanians live in the Republic of Macedonia? What happened to the commenced process of building a bi-national country? Will we oppose to it, support it or be quiet? Who should put an end to all this? It is certainly the civil society sector, in cooperation with the state institutions. Nowadays, the Vlachs in the Republic of Macedonia are loyal citizens, they work for the country’s interest, they contribute a lot for the development of our modern democratic society and they take part in the realization of the strategic aims for affirmation of the Republic of Macedonia all around the world. However, the Vlach community’s fight for keeping their national identity will continue so that the Vlach language does not disappear and the Vlach population with it, as the oldest autochthonous population on the Balkans.

 (the author of the text is a journalist in the editorial board of the TV programs in Vlach language in MTV)