While Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou’s mission to the White House last week was to meet United States President Barack Obama and brief him on Greece’s struggling economic woes, the Greek leader walked out with an even bigger gift: Obama told him that after long debate, Washington has decided that Greeks no longer will have to stand in line at the US Embassy to get visas to come to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano made the announcement and designation of Greece as a member of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP)-strengthening passenger information sharing and ensuring strict security standards while streamlining travel for Greek citizens visiting the United States. Our efforts to guard against terrorism while enhancing legal travel and trade depend upon close collaboration with our international partners, she said. In his meeting with Papandreou, Obama acknowledged the administration’s announcement that Greece has been added to a list of countries whose citizens do not need visas for tourist visits to the US. Greece’s participation in the visa waiver program will strengthen security in both our countries, he said. And whether it is to do business or to visit family and friends, it will now be easier for our Greek friends to visit the United States, Obama said. The decision adds Greece to a list of 35 countries whose citizens can visit the US visa-free. The waiver will go into effect in a month, and comes after two years of work between US and Greek authorities to strengthen Greece’s airport security standards, Napolitano said. I commend our partners in Greece for committing to strong screening and security standards and enhanced information sharing for travel by Greek citizens to the United States as we work together to protect our citizens and strengthen our economies, she said. The Visa Waiver Program, first established in 1986, allows citizens of designated countries to apply online for an Electronic System Travel Authorization rather than for a visa. Greeks, long-time allies of the US in all major wars and conflicts, had long bristled that they still needed visas while residents of former Soviet Republics had been granted the privilege of getting into the waiver program first. Speaking to reporters, Papandreou termed the visa waiver a vote of confidence to Greece and noted that the Greek government is determined to respond to its obligations and cooperate closely at international level on the tackling of terrorism. He’s satisfied On other issues, Papandreou said he and Obama had a meeting of the minds on how Greece is handling its economic problems with a combination of wage freezes and cuts and higher taxes I briefed President Obama on the state of the economy in our country and on the determination that we showed in taking difficult measures, Papandreou said, underlining that with the institutional changes being promoted by his government not only in the economy but in other sectors also such as education, health and public administration the country is entering a course of sustainable growth and is becoming competitive and attractive. Papandreou stressed that he briefed Obama on his and other European leaders initiative, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Eurozone president Jean Claude Juncker that aims at confronting profiteers and restoring Greece’s image in international markets. Papandreou called on the US to contribute to a common direction with the European countries at the next G20 summit. The Greek prime minister said that the US president reassured him that he considers this initiative useful and positive and that the US will move in the same direction so that order is put in the international markets. The prime minister made it clear that Greece did not request economic aid from the US and termed every voice of support positive, particularly when it comes from the biggest economy and the strongest country in the world politically, while speaking of recognition of the difficult measures that we are taking. He told reporters, We’re not asking for a bailout, we’re not asking for financial help from anyone. What we are doing is first of all revamping our own economy. We are taking measures to put our economy on the right path. Obama made no statement after the meeting. Papandreou said he had described to the president the necessary structural changes he’s making in the Greek economy, including cutting government spending. Papandreou also said that apart from the economy, he discussed with President Obama Greece’s initiative for the accession of all the countries of the western Balkans to the European Union by 2014, a development that he characterized as being stabilizing for peace in the wider region and the solving of specific bilateral problems. As regards relations with Turkey, Papandreou briefed the US president on the visit to Athens by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in the coming months, as well as on the will of the Greek side to revive the procedure on the normalization of Greek-Turkish relations and the solving of differences, such as the case of the continental shelf. Blames speculators Papandreou had said that speculators and traders were trying to cause and cash in on a possible Greek default and he got support from European Commission President Jose Barroso who said the 27-nation bloc will consider banning purely speculative credit-default swaps, while Merkel called for a crackdown on derivatives trading to prevent a rerun of the economic turmoil in Greece that hurt the euro and also boosted financing costs in other high-deficit countries such as Portugal and Spain. Obama’s spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said the administration believes the European Union should take the lead in dealing with the Greek crisis. Papandreou and Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou also met US Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to talk about the Greek economy, whose problems were said to be exacerbated by lawful but dubious derivative swaps financial instruments arranged through New York investment bank Goldman, Sachs 10 years ago.