Greece may use an EU/IMF safety net if needed, Prime Minister George Papandreou said in an interview with a Greek newspaper to be published on Sunday.

The question remains whether this mechanism will convince markets just as a gun on the table. If it does not convince them, it is a mechanism that it is there to be used, Papandreou was quoted as saying in an advance copy of To Vima's Sunday edition.

Euro zone finance ministers, the European Central Bank and the European Commission will hold a teleconference on Greece on Sunday, days before Greece auctions 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in total of six- and 12-month T-bills on April 13.

Asked if Greece could afford the euro and if it could be forced out of the single currency area, Papandreou said:

The euro is not to blame for our problems. Greece belongs in the euro zone. Any other scenario is ridiculous.

Asked about Germany, which has so far been very reluctant to come to the rescue of its debt-laden partner, Papandreou said:

Like all European countries, Germany has its own internal problems due to the international crisis.

But it is a delusion to believe the solution to these problems can be found outside or at the expense of the rest of Europe. Germany's prosperity depends on the prosperity of its main trading partners which are the European countries.

(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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