EUROPEAN concerns about President George W Bush's "son of star wars" missile- defence system will be aired this week at a meeting near Munich to be attended by Donald Rumsfeld, the new American defence secretary, writes Tony Allen-Mills.

Rumsfeld will meet Geoff Hoon, Britain's defence secretary, and other European ministers at a two-day conference that will effectively open a transatlantic debate on one of the most controversial and potentially divisive programmes of Bush's presidency. Rumsfeld said on Friday that Bush was determined to press ahead with his national missile defence (NMD) programme, despite objections from Russia and other countries that deployment of a high-technology missile shield might provoke a new arms race. President Vladimir Putin of Russia has warned that Moscow expects Bush to support the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty, which theoretically needs to be amended if Washington goes ahead. Robin Cook, the foreign secretary, has expressed concern about the future of the treaty. Hubert Vedrine, France's foreign minister, said last week that "NMD can become a problem".

The subject seems certain to surface again when Cook visits Washington next week for a meeting with Colin Powell, the American secretary of state, and when Tony Blair arrives next month for meetings with the new president. While officials emphasised that the rush of Anglo-American meetings signalled the importance Bush attaches to good relations with London, it was clear there is plenty of room for disagreement.