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The Macedonian Slavs are an ethnic group which inhabits the wider Macedonian region and speaks the Macedonian language. They are also generally associated with the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
They are said to be the descendents of Thracian, Ilirian, proto-Bulgarian and Slavic tribes.
Ever since the 1913 Balkan Wars when Macedonia, previously part of Rumelia, was carved up between the Balkan nations, the status of the Macedonians has been a controversial issue. Northern parts of the province came under Serbian rule, southern under Greece, eastern under Bulgaria, and each of the occupying countries is said to have imposed their ethnic designation on these people.
The issue continued to be a source of political tensions, especially after the secession of the Republic of Macedonia from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. The creation of the state that shares the name with a wider region was seen by many as an expression of territorial pretensions towards neighbouring states, especially coupled with the usage of symbols from ancient Macedon. However, the Macedonian Slavs have since largely modified their stance, their symbols and the constitution of their state in an attempt to avoid such an implication.
Present Serbia recognizes the Macedonian minority on its territory. The authorities in Bulgaria maintain cordial relations with them but consider them to be Bulgarians, and the Constitutional Court banned a Pirin Macedonian political party in 2000 as separatist. The Greek government states that there are no ethnic divisions in Greece and contests this group's use of the Macedonian name.