Vlach National Party
Political party in Serbia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Vlach National Party[1][2][3] (Romanian: Partia Neamului Rumânesc or Românesc, PNR; Serbian: Влашка народна странка, romanised: Vlaška narodna stranka, VNS), formerly known as the Vlach Democratic Party of Serbia[4][a] until 2013,[5] is a political party in Serbia representing ethnic Vlachs. The leader of the party is Predrag Balašević,[6] who identifies the Vlachs of the Timok Valley as Romanians and requests minority rights for the Romanian minority in the Timok Valley.[7][8]
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| Abbreviation | PNR, VNS |
| Leader | Predrag Balašević |
| Founded | 25 April 2004 |
| Headquarters | Dobrivoja Radosavljevića Bobija 46, Bor |
| Ideology | Vlach minority politics Romanian nationalism |
| National affiliation | Coalition for Peace and Tolerance |
| Colours |
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| National Assembly | 0 / 250 |
| Website | |
| vns | |
History
The Vlach National Party was founded in 2004. It was created with the goal of preserving Vlach/Timok Romanian culture and identity in Serbia.[9][10] The party participated in the 2020 Serbian parliamentary elections in a coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party and other ethnic minority parties.[11] It cooperated with the United for the Victory of Serbia coalition during the 2022 local elections.[12]
The party collaborates with the Alliance for the Union of Romanians.[13]
At the 2026 Serbian local elections on 29 March, the VNS gained one seat (out of 35) at the local council of the town of Bor, with Balašević becoming deputy mayor of the town following negotiations after the election. At the local elections, the main points of the VNS' campaign were the introduction of the Romanian language at the level of public administration in multiple localities and the resolution of problems related to the Romanian Orthodox Church in eastern Serbia and the exercise of religious services in Romanian. In Bor, the party also emphasised environmental protection amid mining activities; as reported by Serbian actress and journalist Jelena Helc, this won the party some voters outside the Vlach Romanian minority.[14]
