Please drop any talk of debt cancellation, ECB's Schnabel says

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Europe's politicians need to stop any talk of the European Central Bank cancelling debt it buys as part of its asset purchase schemes, ECB board member Isabel Schnabel said on Thursday.

"A cancellation of national debts would constitute a clear violation of the European Treaties," Schnabel said in a Twitter Q&A. "The debate is harmful and should be stopped."

The debate, though not widespread, has been lively in parts of Italy, which has one of the highest levels of debt and has been a main beneficiary of ECB bond buying.

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Alex Richardson)