By Matthias Inverardi
COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Friday the next Greek government must abide by commitments made by Athens under its EU/IMF bailout programme or "bear the consequences".
Schaeuble issued his carefully veiled warning two days before a Greek election in which radical anti-bailout parties are expected to perform well, raising the risk of the country's eventual exit from the euro zone.
"The future government in Greece must abide by the country's commitments," Schaeuble said in a speech during an event organised by his ruling centre-right Christian Democrats in the western German city of Cologne.
"If Greek voters were to vote for a majority that does not honour those agreements, then Greece will have to bear the consequences of that," he said.
"EU membership is voluntary," he added, without elaborating.
If Athens reneges on the spending cuts and tax hikes agreed with the European Union and International Monetary Fund, its 130 billion euro bailout could unravel, Greece would default on its huge debts and could end up being forced to quit the euro zone. That would not in itself signify having to quit the EU, however.
The latest polls published before the election showed the conservative New Democracy and socialist PASOK parties - which between them dominated Greece for decades and now rule jointly - would scrape just enough votes to renew their uneasy coalition. They are the only parties to support the bailout.
Earlier this year, Schaeuble infuriated Greeks by calling their country a "bottomless pit" amid German voters' anger over having to support a country many see as feckless. Some Greek newspapers have depicted Chancellor Angela Merkel as a modern-day Nazi for her insistence on fiscal discipline.
Schaeuble also said on Friday he did not believe the results of elections on Sunday in Greece and France would in essence have any impact on German financial policies.
"We will work closely together with France no matter what happens in the election," said Schaeuble.
He said that Germany has made it clear to Francois Hollande, the socialist challenger tipped to defeat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday, that the European Union's fiscal pact had already been agreed and could not be renegotiated.
"We can't renegotiate agreements after every election," he said. "And Hollande knows that too."
Hollande has been critical of Merkel's emphasis on budget cuts to overcome the euro zone crisis and wants a much greater emphasis on measures to rekindle European economic growth.
In other comments, Schaeuble reiterated his view that the Spanish government was on the right path of reform but still needed more time. He said Italy was also working in that direction.
(Writing by Erik Kirschbaum, editing by Gareth Jones)
