The Democratic Union of the Vlachs of Macedonia (DSVM; mk, Демократски сојуз на Власите од Македонија, ; rup, Unia Democratã a Armãnjlor dit Machidunii, ) is one of the two

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

representing the Aromanian minority of the country, the other being the

Party of the Vlachs of Macedonia The Party of the Vlachs of Macedonia (PVM; mk, Партија на Власите од Македонија, ; rup, Partia Armãnjilor ditu Machidunie, ), sometimes simply referred to as the Party of the Vlachs or the Vlach Party ( mk, Пар� ...

(PVM). The president of the DSVM is Nikola Babovski. It was founded in 2002. The

Aromanians The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgaria, northern and ...

are a

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

Romance-speaking The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

living, among other countries, in North Macedonia. Officially, they are known as "Vlachs" and are around 9,695 people in the country according to the 2002 Macedonian census. However, there are claims that, in fact, the Aromanians number over 80,000, which the DSVM backs. The DSVM has little political relevance and lacks an official website on the Internet. Information on its members, leadership and structure is also limited. It has been part of a coalition with the

Social Democratic Union of Macedonia The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалдемократски сојуз на Македонија – СДСМ, ''Socijaldemokratski Sojuz na Makedonija'' – SDSM, sq, Lidhja socialdemokrate e Maqedonisë – LSDM) is a ...

(SDSM) for many years. In 2021, the DSVM and other Aromanian organizations of North Macedonia, including the PVM through a representative of the party, met with the President of North Macedonia

Stevo Pendarovski Stevo Pendarovski ( mk, Стево Пендаровски, ; born 3 April 1963) is a Macedonian politician who serves as the 5th and current President of North Macedonia since 12 May 2019. Early life and education Stevo Pendarovski was born o ...

on the occasion of the

Aromanian National Day The Aromanian National Day ( rup, Dzua Natsionalã a Armãnjilor) is the national day of the Aromanians, an ethnic group of the Balkans scattered in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. It is normally celebrated by A ...

celebrated every 23 May and asked for a constituency with guaranteed seats on the

Parliament of North Macedonia The Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia ( mk, Собрание на Република Северна Македонија, sq, Kuvendi i Republikës së Maqedonisë së Veriut), or the Sobranie ( mk, Собрание, "Assembly"), is t ...

for representatives of the Aromanian minority of the country. The situation of the minority in North Macedonia and the progress made so far in their

minority rights Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group. Civil-rights movements ofte ...

were also discussed.

References

{{Aromanians 2002 establishments in the Republic of Macedonia Political parties established in 2002 Political parties of minorities in North Macedonia Aromanian political parties Aromanians in North Macedonia

See also

References