WASHINGTON?Brightening U.S.-Greece relations were on full display at the White House Thursday as President Bush thanked Prime Minister Costas Simitis for being a friend in the fight against terrorism.

Before news cameras in the Oval Office, Bush also credited Simitis for easing longtime tensions with rival Turkey. And the two leaders shared a laugh when Simitis presented Bush with a sweat shirt for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

As the two sat down to their private meeting, Bush said the world is better off now that Greek relations with Turkey have improved.

“I want to thank you for your vision, for your foreign ministry’s hard work to make the world more peaceful,” Bush said to the prime minister.

Simitis also showed off two Euro coins and said he hoped Europe’s new common currency would come to symbolize “a new feeling about the possibilities of Europe?and closer cooperation with the United States.”