Schaeuble: EU states should not ask peers for more money

Germany's finance minister said on Tuesday that in a "strong" Europe every country must do its "duty" and not ask its partners to stump up more money.

Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an interview with CNN International "that everybody has to do their duty and not to ask for more money (from the) others".

"That's the wrong way to get a strong Europe, that's the wrong incentive," he said during the interview in English, excerpts of which were released by the TV news channel on its website.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has moved to defuse a debate in recent days on aid for Greece, a month from general elections, amid dwindling taxpayer appetite to fund more European bailouts.

The issue flared up last week when Schaeuble admitted during an election event that Greece would need another rescue from 2014, comments seen as marking a shift in Berlin's position.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), one of Greece's creditors, last month estimated Greece would need around 11 billion euros ($14.7 billion) of assistance in 2014 and 2015.

Schaeuble told Germany's Rheinische Post daily Tuesday that this figure seemed "not unrealistic".

He told CNN that if Merkel won a third term in power after the September 22 vote that "I am confident that we will continue to work for a stronger Europe.

"We don't want a German Europe but we want a strong Europe. That means every member state, including Germany, has to increase its competitiveness."