Greek talks with debt inspectors to move to Paris , government says it made request

Greece's government says its next meetings with international debt inspectors will take place in Paris instead of Athens — a move it says signals the country is no longer under "intense pressure" to make austerity measures.

Government spokesman Sofia Voultepsi on Tuesday said the meetings will take place in early September with officials from the "troika" of the European Union, European Central Bank, and International Monetary.

The venue, she said, had been changed from Athens at the government's request to avoid disruption from protests and strikes.

Often tense meetings with inspectors have occurred in Athens regularly since the country was bailed out in 2010 to monitor draconian public spending cuts.

Greece's leftwing Syriza opposition party described the venue change as a "maneuver" to avoid public attention on ongoing austerity measures.