BERLIN -- European nations must make their feelings felt on U.S. plans for a missile defense, otherwise "the Americans will decide for them," Washington's former UN ambassador said in an interview published Monday.

The Europeans "can't just sit around grumbling in the background, they must stand up and get involved," Richard Holbrooke was quoted as saying in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung daily.

Despite European misgivings about the feasibility of the missile defense plan and the possibility of a new arms race, no major allied power publicly assailed the plan after President George W. Bush's speech last Tuesday in which he declared his commitment to push ahead.

"The Europeans must speak their mind to the American government before it's too late," Mr. Holbrooke said.

A U.S. team including Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz is to visit European capitals later this week for discussions on the plan.

The United States says the missile defense system is necessary to counter the potential threat posed by smaller nations believed to be developing nuclear weapons.

Mr. Holbrooke questioned that threat, charging that the plan is "almost a religious matter" for the Bush administration.

"We have to ask ourselves, in what way are we really threatened? It's people like Osama bin Laden who are dangerous, and they have no long-range missiles," he said, referring to the Saudi militant blamed for terrorist attacks.

Mr. Holbrooke also criticized European nations for failing to rescue the U.S. place on the UN Human Rights Commission. In a vote last week, Washington lost its seat on the UN rights panel for the first time since its formation.