Greece should not make cuts in its defence spending and had played an important role in southern Europe as a NATO member, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a German television station on Tuesday.

Asked whether Greece would remain a member of NATO if it left the euro zone, he was quoted by German public broadcaster ZDF as saying in a statement: "The Greek government has always stressed it wants to remain a reliable member of NATO."

Stoltenberg said he expected Greece to continue spending 2 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.

He said no member of the Greek government had linked the financial crisis with NATO membership: "On the contrary - they've really always affirmed their loyalty to NATO and I welcome that."

in.reuters.com