Italy's Renzi backs ECB rejection of Greek bonds

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Thursday the European Central Bank's decision not to accept Greek sovereign bonds in return for funding was "legitimate and opportune". The ECB decided on Wednesday to revoke a waiver allowing it to accept Greek debt, shifting the responsibility for providing emergency cash to Greek banks onto Athens if the new government of Alexis Tsipras fails to strike a reform deal. "The European Central Bank's decision regarding Greece is legitimate and opportune because it brings all the interested parties together around a table," Renzi said in a statement. (Reporting by Roberto Landucci, writing by Isla Binnie)