[JURIST] Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Friday to extend Greece’s financial rescue by four months, though the deal will not be ratified until next week after the list of reforms, including all the policy measures the government plans to take during the remainder of the bailout period, are approved. The agreement [Reuters report] will give the government time to negotiate long-term debt relief. International lenders, including Germany, have demanded that Greece demonstrate “significant improvements” in reform commitments before it will accept an increase in funding to the country.

The 2012 Greek bailout was one of the most dramatic events in the country’s recent history and has had a serious effect on the country’s stability. In May 2013 a report [JURIST report] by UN Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights Cephas Lumina found that the conditions of Greece’s bailout plan, put in place by its international lenders, have severely undercut the ability of Greek citizens to obtain a standard of living in line with international human rights standards. In January 2013 Greece’s Hellenic Parliament approved [JURIST report] new tax legislation enabling the country to pay back its loans and continue receiving financial aid. In October 2012 the Council of Europe found [JURIST report] that two labor reforms adopted by Greece as part of wider efforts to curb the nation’s financial crises were illegal. The Council’s non-binding ruling concerned two measures passed by the Greek government in 2010 at the urging of the country’s international creditors.