Portuguese president warns Greece must stay in Eurozone

Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva called on Greece to cooperate with Europe and said Portugal had contributed with millions of euros from taxpayers' pockets to help its neighbors.

"Portugal has shown solidarity with Greece for it to remain in the eurozone," Cavaco Silva said on the sidelines of a public ceremony in Lisbon, according to Portuguse news agency Lusa.

"As well as the loan we made to Greece amounting to around 1.1 billion euros, Portugal has transferred the product of interest on bonds in possession of the Bank of Portugal, which has come from the pockets of Portuguese tax payers," he added.

Cavaco Silva also said Greece could not do "what it pleases" and that the coordination of policies in the eurozone mean that state members have to coordinate, adding that "the economies are interconnected and influence each other."

Greece's debt stands at 175 percent of its gross domestic product. Greece's new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has been touring Europe to seek support for his plans to ease austerity and lowering the debt burden.

Tsipras stuck to a rigid anti-austerity stance on Wednesday during negotiations with European creditors in Brussels and insisted he was still seeking a new debt deal.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble rejected Tsipiras' bid, while other officials considered extending the repayment deadline for Greece's loan or lowering its interest rate. Endit