The controversy over the identity of Romanians in Serbia is back in the spotlight, and PNL MP Daniel Gheorghe harshly criticizes the Serbian state for the way the Romanian community in the Timok Valley is being treated. At the heart of the dispute is the use of the phrases “Vlach language” and “Vlach people”, which the Romanian parliamentarian emphasizes are a construction without scientific and historical foundation, through which the Romanian identity of the community in eastern Serbia is contested.

The statements come in the context in which Radu Cosma, director of the Department for Romanians Abroad, brought up the issue of protecting Romanian identity in Serbia, drawing a parallel with the long-standing controversy regarding the so-called "Moldovan language" in the Republic of Moldova.