TEHRAN German leader Gerhard Schroeder sent a strong message to President George Bush's new administration on Saturday, defending Europe's growing voice in global security and arms control.

"Naturally the transatlantic relationship in the year 2001 is not the same as in the year 1949," Schroeder told an annual meeting in Munich of international defense leaders and analysts.

"We must learn to deal responsibly with occasional differences of opinion and different interests," he said.

Among the most pressing areas of disagreement, Schroeder highlighted U.S. plans to develop a national shield against ballistic missiles that Russia strongly opposes and many other European nations are worried could prompt a new arms race.

"We should jointly engage ourselves to maintain the arms control policy acquis and if possible to develop it further," he said as carried by Reuters.

"We should look for joint answers to the existing and new threats to security."

Asked if by "acquis" he was referring to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty that would have to be amended for NMD to go ahead, Schroeder said he had purposefully used the word because arms control was not about a single agreement.

"We first need clarity about the content of the (NMD) plans. I don't see that clarity yet and that must be cleared up with the new American administration," he said. "We need to consider what effects the implementation of the plan would have on Russia and China."

Schroeder said Russia had a vital role to play in lasting peace and security in Europe and said Germany was pushing for Moscow to be tightly bound to the rest of the continent.

Schroeder said the NMD plan was not the only issue that had to be dealt with in transatlantic ties, stressing the importance of winning confidence in the U.S. for European plans to develop an independent rapid reaction force and its own security identity.

"Europe must have the capability to react independently to crises," he said "We want a capable Europe which can be a strong partner to the U.S. in the joint dealing with global challenges."

"The intention of creating a European defense identity should strengthen NATO and vice versa."

Asked if Europe prepared to spend more on defense to fulfill these responsibilities, Schroeder pointed to Germany's recent moves to slim down and professionalize its forces and thus free up more cash for investment in military hardware.

European defense spending is still a fraction of that of the United States, but Schroeder said the German goal of balancing its budget -- meaning an inevitable squeeze on defense spending -- could also make a indirect contribution to international security.

"We shouldn't think about security too narrowly. The importance of strengthening economic forces in Europe when they are not so strong in other parts of the world should not be underestimated," he said.

Meanwhile, DPA quoted United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as saying Saturday that Washington would help its allies to deploy missile defense systems as an extension of America's planned missile shield.

"The U.S. intends to develop and deploy a missile defense designed to defend our people and forces against a limited ballistic missile attack, and is prepared to assist friends and allies threatened by missile attack to deploy such defenses," said Rumsfeld according to an advance text of a speech at the annual Munich security conference.

Rumsfeld said the planned U.S. national missile defense (NMD) system was a threat to no one and would only concern those who wanted to threaten others.

America's European allies have expressed severe doubts over NMD which they fear could unleash another arms race. Russia and China are firmly opposed to NMD.