Prime minister Mark Rutte has again said it should be possible for a country to leave the eurozone.

Asked about Greece during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos, Rutte said: ‘ I believe our aim should be to have the whole eurozone intact’.

However, Reuters quotes Rutte as saying, ‘at the same time, you can never predict whether some country may want to leave the eurozone. I think that should be possible.’

Rutte also called on countries such as Britain, Denmark and Sweden to be ‘very active’ within the EU. These countries have clear ideas about how to get the EU’s growth motor working again, the Dutch prime minister said.

Rutte also repeated the Dutch government standpoint that it is of ‘vital importance’ that Britain remains within Europe. Leaving the EU would turn the country into an isolated island somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic ocean between Europe and the US, he said.