A/HRC/10/11/Add.3 page 23 fundamental freedoms, including those of persons belonging to minorities, is the responsibility of the State in which the persons and/or minority groups reside. These rights are universal and are elaborated in multi-lateral treaties and other documents that constitute core aspects of human rights law, including minority rights.22 In this regard, states should no longer be guided merely by bi-lateral agreements with specific countries, although within the context of respect for the rights of non-discrimination and equality before the law, bi-lateral arrangements could offer enhanced entitlements over the minimum obligations. 87. In the modern paradigm, while minority issues are a legitimate interest of the international community, they should not be seen as tied to or implicating specific inter-state relations that may threaten the principle of territorial integrity. A determination that a certain group should receive the protections due to minorities does not carry implications regarding inter-state relations.23 Minorities are constituent groups fully within the Greek society - not a foreign element. 88. The absence of formal recognition by the state of a particular societal group as constituting “a minority” is not conclusive.24 Rather, the existence of a group to which a state owes minority protections is a matter of objective facts and exercise of the right of self-identification by persons belonging to the group.25 A number of criteria have been used in the past. A distinct shared religion, a language or distinctive dialect, race or ethnicity, cultural expressions, or a common national heritage. The Permanent Court of International Justice in the Greco-Bulgarian case made reference to a group of people “united in a sentiment of solidarity.” 22 See, among others, the Helsinki Final Act (Principle VII, para.4), the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (hereinafter: “ECHR”) (Article 1), the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and with regard to minorities in particular, in the 1966 UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (hereinafter: “ICCPR”) (Article 27), the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious or Linguistic Minorities, (Article 1(1)), the CSCE Copenhagen Document (paragraphs 33(1) and 36(2)) and the FCNM (Article 1). 23 See the Bolzano/Bolzen Recommendations on National Minorities in Inter-State Relations & Explanatory Note, June, 2008; www.OSCE-hcnm.org. 24 See Hurst Hannum, “The Concept and Definaition of Minorities,” Universal Minority Rights: A Commentary on the Jurisprudence of International Courts and Treaty Bodies, Ed. Marc Weller, University Press, 2007, p.49. 25 See article 27 of the ICCPR; General Recommendation ___ of the HRC; The Declaration on Minorities; ICERD and CERD Recommendation VIII, 1990 and XXIV, 1998.