and linguistic characteristics of the said minority are safeguarded. The States authorities have the obligation to create favorable conditions to enable them to express their characteristics and to develop their culture, religion, language, traditions and customs (art. 4.2) as well as to learn their mother tongue and to be taught in their mother tongue (art. 4.3). The persons belonging to minorities have the right to establish their own associations and to have contacts across frontiers with related minorities (art. 2.5). I'd like to make a very last point on Art. 2.2 of the Declaration : despite the fact this provision doesn't unfortunately mention the right of persons belonging to minorities to participate in "political life" as such, one can infer such a right to participate in "political life from their right to participate in "public life", as recognized in this article.