Seehofer: Greece euro exit can't be ruled out

The leader of Germany's Christian Social Union, one of three parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right ruling coalition, was quoted on Wednesday as saying he could not rule out Greece leaving the euro zone.

Horst Seehofer, CSU chairman and Bavaria state premier, told Bild newspaper that he was nevertheless confident Greece could succeed with its fiscal reform efforts.

Asked by Bild if he could exclude Greece exiting the euro zone, Seehofer said: "I do not think that can be ruled out but I'm counting on the success of the path that has been taken with aid and consolidation efforts."

Seehofer also told Germany's top-selling daily: "However, there can be no assistance if the indebted countries do not make their own contribution."

The comments from Seehofer stood in contrast to those from Merkel, the leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU). Merkel said on Monday she did not think any country would be leaving the euro zone and any such move could drag down other countries.

"From a technical and legal point of view there is no possibility at all," Merkel said on Monday when asked about the chance of Greece leaving the euro zone — as some academics and economists in Germany have called for.

"But I'm also not thinking about that possibility because we could trigger a domino effect that would be extraordinarily dangerous to our currency system," Merkel said

Seehofer's remarks come before a ruling on Wednesday by Germany's Constitutional Court on three lawsuits brought by six German euro sceptics after European leaders bailed out Greece and set up a new bailout fund for the bloc.