[JURIST] Greek voters went to the polls on Sunday to vote in an election that could lead to the renegotiation of bailout [BBC backgrounder] terms with international lenders. The leftist party Syriza [official website], which has been leading [Reuters report] in the polls, has promised to reopen negotiations with its lenders, as many Greeks consider the terms of the massive 173 billion euro bailout too harsh. The party plans to have some of the debts written off and to abandon severe budget constraints. The results of the election and the action taken afterwards by the new regime will have significant effects on the country’s standing in Europe. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras [official profile] said as he cast his vote, “We decide whether we shall proceed dynamically, with security, or whether we are going to enter unknown territory.”

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 on so that the country can pay back loans so that it can 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 [Reuters report] concerned two measures passed by the Greek government in 2010 at the urging of the country’s international creditors.