Greece's prime minister began talks Wednesday with one of his country's main debt supervisors, as the EU awaits a clear signal from the new government on how it intends to repay its massive bailout loans.

Alexis Tsipras was welcomed at the European Commission, one of the three main institutions overseeing Greece's finances, in Brussels by President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Making light of the tension and expectation surrounding their meeting, the two men clasped hands merrily and marched off swinging their arms, without talking to reporters.

Riding a wave of popular discontent with an EU austerity drive led by economic powerhouse Germany, Tsipras has so far shunned the so-called troika - the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

His left-wing government has focused on talks with European governments in its bid to renegotiate Greece's bailout loans, worth 240 billion euros (currently $271 billion). The bulk of the loans come from fellow eurozone states, with some also from the IMF.

Tsipras wants to lighten the repayment load and also ease back on the austerity budget measures required in exchange for the loans.

On the eve of their talks, Juncker underlined that the EU would show flexibility in helping Athens deal with its debts but ruled out wholesale policy changes.

The EU will "have to adapt a certain number of our policies but we are not going to change everything," he told lawmakers.

Ahead of Tsipras's visit, part of a tour just nine days after he was elected to test European creditors' appetite for his demands, EU officials have insisted that while the anti-austerity choice of Greek voters must be respected, so must public opinion in the other 18 nations using the euro currency.

Tspiras is due later to hold talks with European Council President Donald Tusk, before heading to France.

Meanwhile, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis met with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in Frankfurt before holding talks Thursday with German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble in Berlin.

Varoufakis said he and Draghi had "a very fruitful discussion" about the rules and constraints of monetary union.

"I had the opportunity to present to him our government's utter and unwavering determination that it can't possibly be business as usual in Greece," he said, regarding both Greece's underlying economic troubles and the bailout program, which he said had contributed to "a major humanitarian crisis."