EU's Juncker warns against Greek exit from euro: paper

BERLIN (Reuters) - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Sunday a Greek exit from the euro zone could damage trust in the single currency.

"I don't share the idea that we will have fewer worries and restraints if Greece gives up the euro," Juncker said in an advanced copy of an interview to be published in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Monday.

He told the paper that if a country were to withdraw from the euro, "it would fix the idea in heads that the euro is not irreversible."

This could prompt international investors to pull out of Europe, Juncker said, adding that Japan's prime minister made clear to him during his visit to Tokyo that Japan's investment in Europe depended on having confidence in the euro.

Greece and its euro zone and International Monetary Fund (IMF) creditors have been locked in talks for months without any signs of a breakthrough. Pressure to strike a deal has intensified as Athens faces a debt payment on June 5 as well as the expiration of its bailout program on June 30.

Juncker will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in Berlin on Monday, and he told the paper that Greece would be on the agenda, even if it isn't the official reason for their talks.

He also called for the IMF to continue to support Greece after its chief Christine Lagarde said last week it was up to Europe to take precautions if the EU wanted to avoid the threat of a bankruptcy.

"It won't work without the IMF," Juncker said, adding the German government had made the IMF's participation in 2010 a particular condition for aid.

(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Rosalind Russell)