Finnish prime minister Alexander Stubb says that austerity has worked in the euro zone - and that Ireland is an example of the success of the policy.

He thinks that Greek debt forgiveness would be unfair on other EU countries who experienced similar crises:

"We believe Greece shall and should stick to its agreements and commitments. That is what European integration is all about. If there was any slippage in those commitments it would be unfair to those who paid, and unfair to those countries who have had very difficult programmes themselves - Ireland, Portugal and Spain."

A number of global economic bodies, including research published by the IMF, have suggested that the austerity policies pursued in countries like Ireland were too severe.

Mr Stubb told the Irish Independent that he still believes that it was the right way to deal with the crisis:

"I disagree with that criticism, if you look at countries like Ireland, they have actually managed quite well. There has been a lot of structural change, there has been balancing of budgets, good economic indicators, and now economic growth."

It is reported that the Greek proposals put forward this week included a commitment to carrying out 70 percent of the country's current deal - arguing that its public finances cannot afford to continue with the existing programme.

Mr Stubb warns against the rise of 'populist' parties in Europe: "I don't think we should give any room to populism in Europe - we have commitments - we have agreements and we must stick to them."

Ireland has joined the majority of euro zone countries in opposing the debt reforms that have been proposed by the Syriza government.

He says that any change to the Greek deal must come with structural reforms: 

"We expect Greece to do their bit. The compromise is quite clear. If Greece wants an extension of the programme, which we think it would be in the best interest of Greece, then they will have to continue structural change.  The one overseeing that change is the IMF which has 70 years of experience in dealing with these types of situations."

The Finn concludes: "One should have no illusions we are not building any kind of free programmes or free rides."