Vlach activists are warning that their language and culture are disappearing, as the small community is getting assimilated into larger ones.

Lawyer Janaki Mitrovski says that there are examples of families where both spouses are Vlach, but they still don’t speak the language. The number of Vlachs in Macedonia fell below 10,000 at the 2021 census, and only 8,700 of those are resident in Macedonia.

In the 21st century we the Vlach are fighting for our basic human rights that belong to every nation. Less and less of us speak the Vlach language and, to be honest, the state is not helping us in that regard. Without the language, we lose our Vlach identity, Mitrovski said in remarks ahead of the national Vlach day – May 23rd.