London---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".
AFP
