(MENAFN- AFP) Greece's radical new leaders pushed for support from European governments and investors in their bid to renegotiate a massive 240-billion-euro ($270 billion) bailout on Monday.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visited Cyprus in his first foreign trip since his Syriza party swept to victory in a momentous January 25 election, while Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis went to London in a flurry of diplomatic efforts.
A casually-dressed Varoufakis, wearing an untucked shirt and long leather jacket, met his sharply-suited British counterpart George Osborne for talks in London.
"It's clear that the standoff between Greece and the eurozone is fast becoming the biggest risk to the global economy," Osborne said after the talks.
Varoufakis told the Financial Times that he would not ask for Greek debt to be written off, but rather for a series of debt swaps he described as "smart debt engineering", while cracking down on wealthy tax evaders.
"The only thing we shall not retreat from is our view that the current unenforceable programme needs to be rethought from scratch," he told the newspaper.
An academic and popular blogger, Varoufakis also held talks with City of London bankers hosted by US giant Merrill Lynch, with a Greek government source saying he wanted to encourage investment and reassure bondholders
The new Greek administration, which has hired investment bank Lazard to advise it on how to manage its debt, was boosted by comments from US President Barack Obama on Sunday, who warned against "squeezing" Greece.
The new prime minister Tsipras has vowed to find a debt agreement for "all the peoples of Europe" ahead of meetings in Italy on Tuesday and on Wednesday in Brussels with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
- 'Tough talks' -
Tsipras has dismissed the "troika" system monitoring Greece's economy -- the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank" -- as lacking legal status and blames Germany for driving the tough austerity programmes his hard-left government has pledged to end.
Despite a restructuring in 2012, Greece is still lumbered with debts of more than 315 billion euros, upwards of 175 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) -- an EU record.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out debt relief and on Monday said "tough talks" lay ahead.
Comments last week by a top European Central Bank official that the institution could not keep lending to Greece unless an agreement is found before a February deadline piled on the pressure.
"Europeanists should not be toying with the solidity of the eurozone. We should be settling uncertainties, we should be settling nerves," Varoufakis told Channel 4 news.
"There will be a deal that in a very short space of time is going to make it perfectly clear to everyone that Greece can play within the rules, and in a way that puts the Greek crisis away, once and for all."
The Finnish Finance Minister Alexander Stubb said on Monday that Greece's loan repayment period could be extended, while the governor of the Bank of France ruled out cancelling debt but said some "accommodation" could be found.
European stock markets closed up on Monday after a volatile week of trading since the Greek election.
The benchmark index in Athens rose by 3.7 percent after Merkel said Berlin wanted "friendly relations" with Greece and invited Tsipras as a "welcome guest".
- 'Respect the rules' -
Syriza's stunning election success and the formation of a coalition government with the nationalist Independent Greeks sent shockwaves through Europe.
In its first week in power, the government scrapped the privatisation of Greece's two main ports and the state power company and announced a major increase in the minimum wage.
But Tsipras has tried to calm nerves by saying he did not intend to renege on commitments to the EU and IMF.
"It has never been our intention to act unilaterally on Greek debt," he said in a statement to Bloomberg News.
A Greek government source in London meanwhile criticised British weekly The Economist for a cover showing the Venus de Milo statue brandishing a gun and appearing to threaten Germany with it.
"It's completely obnoxious and ridiculous to suggest we could blackmail Europe," the official told reporters.
Syriza's election win has boosted anti-austerity parties in other European countries.
On Saturday, at least 100,000 people took to the streets of Madrid in support of the Podemos party, a close Syriza ally which has surged in polls ahead of Spanish elections late this year.
Spain's Budget Minister Cristobal Montoro on Monday rejected "changing the rules" over Greece's bailout, noting that Spain had respected similar austerity measures imposed by international creditors.
"Joining Europe is voluntary, and we belong to that club on the condition we respect the club's rules, because it is in everyone's interest we do so," Montoro told Spain's public television channel TVE.
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