THE SERBIAN ISSUE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SUFFERING OF SERBS IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA AT THE END OF THE 19TH AND THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY.

In the paper, the author speaks about the suffering of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija in the period from the Berlin Congress to the Balkan Wars in the context of solving the Serbian issue. The difficult position of the Serbian people imposed itself as a primary task in the foreign policy of the Kingdom of Serbia. Complex diplomatic relations influenced the Government in Belgrade to consider several ways to resolve the Serbian issue within the framework of the Eastern issue. In addition to the Ottoman authorities, the obstacles in the implementation of the plans were represented by the Albanians, but also by the interests of certain great powers, primarily Austria-Hungary. The realization of imagined ideas about the protection of the Serbian people in Old and Southern Serbia gave short-term results, but they contributed to the final liberation from Ottoman rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]