Summary Syriza has pledged to renegotiate the terms of the country's bailout.
HELSINKI (AFP) - A top European Central Bank official said Saturday the institution cannot keep lending money to Greece unless the heavily indebted nation extends its bailout programme before a February deadline.
The remarks from Bank of Finland Governor Erkki Liikanen -- who sits on the ECB s governing council -- come one month before the bailout programme agreed upon by Greece with Europe and the International Monetary Fund is set to expire.
"Greece s programme extension will expire at the end of February so some kind of solution must be found, otherwise we can t continue lending," Liikanen told Finnish public broadcaster Yle.
Syriza -- the radical-left coalition that won Greek elections last week -- has pledged to renegotiate the terms of the country s bailout.
"Significant debt restructuring has been carried out with private investors. The ECB cannot fund a state directly, which is what it would mean in this case," Liikanen said.
Following Syriza s victory Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said he opposed debt relief but would consider extending Greece s loan repayment period.
"We re sticking to what we ve agreed on... but we can extend the loan period," Stubb told reports in Helsinki.
Finland took a tougher stance than other eurozone states in 2011 when the second Greek bailout package was agreed, demanding collateral for its portion of a programme worth 159 billion euros ($179 billion).
