Slovak PM not keen on more time or debt writedowns for Greece

Slovakia does not favor granting its euro zone peer Greece more time to fix its debt problems or further debt writedowns, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Thursday.

"Measures in Greece haven't solved the debt problem so far. Quite the contrary, the debt has actually risen," Fico told reporters.

"We are not keen to grant Greece more time, nor further (debt) writedowns. Greece must 'pay the price' first and then we can help them," he said, adding: "I don't want to be an extremist politician who would want to kick someone out from somewhere."

Euro zone finance ministers will attempt to close Greece's financing gap to 2014 when they meet again in Brussels next Tuesday, instead of finding a solution for as far ahead as 2020 as originally intended, a senior euro zone source told Reuters on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Martin Santa; Editing by Hugh Lawson)