MUNICH, Germany (AP) – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, taking a conciliatory tone, said Saturday the U.S.-European alliance can withstand its current differences and he urged unified efforts to defeat terrorism and deter weapons proliferation.

Referring to his earlier critical description of European nations that opposed the Iraq war as “old Europe,” Rumsfeld said, “That was old Rumsfeld,” drawing laughs from officials at a security conference.

“Our collective security depends on our cooperation and mutual respect and understanding,” Rumsfeld said. Among those attending were U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and German Defense Minister Peter Struck.

Rumsfeld called for further cooperative efforts to counter the spread of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.

“Our Atlantic alliance relationship has navigated through some choppy seas over the years. But we have always been able to resolve the toughest issues. That is because there is so much to unite us: common values, shared histories, and an abiding faith in democracy,” Rumsfeld said.

The Pentagon chief said joint legal, diplomatic and intelligence efforts were crucial.

“By now it must be clear that one nation cannot defeat the extremists alone,” Rumsfeld said.

He added, “The military can only be part of the solution and it is always the last resort.”

The secretary singled out France and Germany, two of the most vocal critics of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, for praise for their arrests of suspected Islamic extremists last month.

Rumsfeld came out strongly against a suggestion to move away from NATO as the main vehicle for trans-Atlantic dialogue.

“NATO has a great deal of energy and vitality,” Rumsfeld said. “I believe they are undertaking the kinds of reforms to bring the institution into the 21st century. The place to discuss trans-Atlantic issues clearly is NATO.”

Struck opened the conference by suggesting a move away from NATO and proposing more direct coordination between the European Union and the United States.

The defense minister said NATO “is no longer the primary venue where trans-Atlantic partners discuss and coordinate strategies.” He recommended forming a commission to study his idea.

De Hoop Scheffer, citing NATO missions in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq, said the alliance “has seen more change and transformation over the past three or four years than in the many decades before. Let’s not say NATO is ill or terminally ill … this alliance is very alive.”

Rumsfeld’s trip to Germany followed stops to France and Iraq this past week. At a conference of NATO defense ministers in France, he advocated greater alliance participation in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He also said he believed that U.S. and European policy concerning Iran’s nuclear ambitions were in accord. “There is not much daylight between the approach of the United States and the Europeans,” Rumsfeld said.

The speech at the gathering of leading security officials was a late addition to Rumsfeld’s agenda and came after German prosecutors decided not to investigate Rumsfeld on war crimes allegations.

Rumsfeld’s aides did not say there was a direct link between the prosecutors’ announcement and Rumsfeld’s decision to attend the conference. But last week, Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon that the legal matter was one factor in considering whether to go to Munich.

The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights filed a lawsuit with German federal prosecutors in November charging that U.S. officials, including Rumsfeld, were responsible for acts of torture against detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.