Predrag Balašević (, sr-Cyrl, Предраг Балашевић; born 5 January 1974 in Podgorac) is a Serbian politician of Timok Vlach ethnicity who is currently the leader of the Vlach National Party.

Biography

Balašević created the Vlach National Party on 25 April 2004 in

Bor Bor may refer to: Places Populated places * Bor (Tachov District), a town in Plzeň Region, Czech Republic * Bor, Petnjica, Montenegro * Bor, Russia, the name of many inhabited localities in Russia * Bor District, a district in Serbia ** Bor, Se ...

to defend the rights of Timok Vlachs of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. In 2008, he led the

political coalition A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...

United Vlachs of Serbia formed between the Vlach National Party and two other Vlach parties. This was done with the intention of participating in the

2008 Serbian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 11 May 2008 to elect members of the National Assembly of Serbia, National Assembly. The election was held barely a year after the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election, previous parliamentary election. ...

. For doing this, 10,516 signatures showing support to the coalition were submitted. The coalition presented 171 candidates in the elections. Balašević has reported that the lack of education in the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spelling: Roumanian; , or , ) is the official and main language of Romania and Moldova. Romanian is part of the Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, a linguistic group that evolved fr ...

in the

Timok Valley The Timok Valley (; ; ) is a geographical region in east Serbia around the Timok River. The Timok Valley corresponds to parts of two Serbian districts ( Bor and Zaječar), with a total 2022 census population of 200,785. Name The Serbian name is ...

is "dramatic" and endangers the survival of the community, demanding help from

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and comparing the situation with the support that

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

brings to its diaspora. On 2020, he participated in the

2020 Serbian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 21 June 2020. Initially organized for 26 April 2020, they were postponed by a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia, COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In the period before the ...

, saying that this election was an important opportunity for a representative of the estimated around 330,000-strong Romanian minority in Serbia to enter the Parliament of Serbia for the first time. Balašević also thanked

George Simion George Nicolae Simion (; born 21 September 1986) is a Romanian politician and civic activist. He is the founder and chairman of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), the second largest party in both houses of parliament since 2024 Rom ...

and his Romanian party

Alliance for the Union of Romanians The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (, AUR) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Romania and Moldova. It was founded in 2019 ahead of the 2020 Romanian local elections, 2020 Romanian local and 2020 Romanian legisl ...

(AUR) for supporting him during the elections, with AUR being the only party from Romania that did this.

References

1974 births Living people Vlachs of Serbia Serbian people of Romanian descent Ethnic Romanian politicians in Serbia Serbian human rights activists {{Serbia-politician-stub