France says no waiver for Greece, but maybe more time to pay debts

Paris, which will host a visit by anti-austerity Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis on Monday, has said it wants to facilitate talks between the new anti-bailout government in Athens and its European partners.

"There is no specific waiver due to the new political situation," Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron told reporters. "Greece has commitments with the euro zone and it must respect them," he said, pointing to the fact that other euro zone countries including France were exposed to Greek debt.

But Macron also said that there would be negotiations, adding that Europe must hear the message from Greek voters, which have put in government parties opposed to the austerity that came with the bailouts which saved the country from bankruptcy.

Junior European Affairs Minister Harlem Desir spelled out France's position in more details, telling LCI television that Athens could be given more time to pay back its debt.

"The debt must be reimbursed but we can talk about the conditions, including the timeframe," he said.

(Reporting by Jean-Baptiste Vey and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Toby Chopra)