Yanis Varoufakis

By Alessandra Galloni & Ingrid Melander

In Paris and Rome, it was sugar coated; in Berlin and Frankfurt unequivocal. But the message from European capitals to Greece's new leaders was the same at every stop on last week's tour - stick to your commitments.

An unusually high percentage - over 70 percent - of people support the tough stance adopted by the Alexis Tsipras government toward Greece's creditors.

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis is to appear on Italy's public TV channel RAI 3 for an interview with "Presa Diretta", a talk show aired on Sunday evening.

The Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) Cabinet meeting on Saturday ran for five hours. In his briefing, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis described an "asphyxiating environment" as far as Greece's financing is concerned. He noted that pressure is being applied to the new government, although the latter cannot appear to back down.

The EU may have warned that time is running out and that a cash crisis for Greece is looming, but the new Greek government appears steadfast in regards to its demand for a 3-month "bridge deal" until a new agreement is negotiated.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis may be one of the most sought after men of Europe but he hasn't changed his habits. Not only does he meet with heads of state with casual attire, but he also continues to live an ordinary life without bodyguards. Here he is at Syntagma Square, his belongings in a backpack rubbing shoulders with the ordinary citizens of Greece.

Greece said on Saturday it had no short-term cash problem and that it will hand its European Union partners a comprehensive plan next week for managing the transition to a new debt deal.

The EU has warned time is running out to avoid a financing crisis in Greece.

Greece faces another tough Eurogroup summit Monday when a slew of reform proposals from Athens are to come under the microscope in Brussels, with the two sides apparently far from a compromise even as state coffers in Athens are close to emptying.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde is to meet Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis for the first time face-to-face on Wednesday during the emergency Eurogroup meeting being held to discuss the future of the Greek program. There is a strong possibility that European Central Bank President Mario Draghi may also be present at this meeting.

A plan by the government to pay non-professionals, including students and tourists, an hourly fee to work as undercover tax agents in order to boost a crackdown on evasion prompted reactions from the political opposition and from Greek tax inspectors over the weekend.