The Vlachs (Romanian: rumâń; Serbian: власи / vlasi) are a Romanian-speaking population group living in eastern Serbia, mainly within the Timok Valley.

[6] However, most researchers agree that the Vlachs of eastern Serbia originate from areas in present-day Romania and settled in land in which they live today as a result of migrations in the 18th and 19th centuries.

[8] Strong migrations were recorded between 1718 and 1739 after the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–1718; during this time, eastern Serbia was part of the Banat of Temeswar.

These were directed to the settlements of Jošanica, Krepoljin, Laznica (Laznița), Osanica, Ribare, Suvi Do, Vukovac, Žagubica (Jagubița or Jăgobița).

Furthermore, the two latter waves led to the foundation of the settlements of Bliznak, Breznica, Izvarica, Jasikovo, Krupaja, Milanovac and Sige.

Furthermore, in ethnographic studies of the 19th or early 20th century, the Vlachs of eastern Serbia were regarded as Romanians in an undisputed way.

[11] According to an article by Ivan Miladinović for Večernje novosti, at the end of 1946, Yugoslav Partisans leader Josip Broz Tito presented a proposal to allow Romania to annex the Vlach-populated areas in eastern Serbia since "Romanian comrades, Gheorghiu-Dej and Ana Pauker, think it is their people and their territory"; Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Serbia Blagoje Nešković would have expressed strong opposition to this proposal.

This proposition of the council was confirmed in a document it issued in 2010 – endorsing the Serbian language while written Vlach was being developed.

Before its construction, Romanians in Eastern Serbia were not allowed to hear liturgical services in their native language.

[13][21] The relative isolation of the Vlachs has permitted the survival of various pre-Christian religious customs and beliefs that are frowned upon by the Orthodox Church.

The Serbian government considers the Timok Vlachs a distinct and independent group and rejects any conflation with the Romanians, citing census results and their right to self-identify with the minority of their choice.

In 2009, during an interview for the Serbian newspaper Politika, Živoslav Lazić, the president of the council and mayor of Veliko Gradište (Grădiștea Mare), called the efforts by "some in Serbia" to prove that the Romanians and the Timok Vlachs are a separate minority as "xenophobic".

[28] Today there is a movement among some members of the Timok Vlachs to align themselves with Romania and identify themselves as part of the Romanian identity in Serbia.

It has been said that the Serbian political elite might fear that part of these could return to Serbia with a Romanian national consciousness that could influence the rest of the Timok Vlachs.

[25] The Association of the Vlachs of Serbia (Serbian: Zajednica Vlaha Srbija / Заједница Влаха Србије, ZVS) stands out for this.

[35] In April 2005, 23 deputies from the Council of Europe, representatives from Hungary, Georgia, Lithuania, Romania, Moldova, Estonia, Armenia, Azerbaïdjan, Denmark, and Bulgaria protested against Serbia's treatment of this population.