Tony Blair has defended his relationship with George W Bush at a time of growing disagreement between Britain its European counterparts.

Speaking on Tuesday, the prime minister rebuffed Jacques Chirac following his warning that central and eastern European states may not secure EU membership if they side with the Bush administration.

The UK prime minister warned against playing a "dangerous game" which would force countries to choose sides between the EU and America.

"People who want to pull Europe and America apart are playing the most dangerous game of international politics I know," he said.

"If Europe and America stand together we can solve the problems of the world.

"If you set up these rival poles of power where people are being pulled one way or another way between the two, between Europe and America, I sincerely believe that is so dangerous for the security of our world."

His comments followed Chirac's hint that he could block the accession of former Communist countries to the EU as a punishment for breaking ranks with France and Germany over the Iraqi crisis.

The French president described the behaviour of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia and Albania as "childish and dangerous".

"These countries are very rude and rather reckless of the danger of aligning themselves too quickly with the Americans. Their situation is very delicate. If they wanted to diminish their chances of joining the EU, they couldn't have chosen a better way," he said.

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel, Peter Medgyessy of Hungary and Leszek Miller of Poland had been among the eight signatories of a controversial statement backing America's tough stance on Iraq.

Blair defended his close relationship with president Bush, arguing that Britain's Atlantic alliance remained profoundly important.

US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld pointed to the cooperation from the new NATO members as a sign that Europe was divided between "old" and "new" states.

The transatlantic strains over Iraq have added to the tension in Britain's relationship with France, already hit by issues such as Zimbabwe and CAP reform.

Blair said the accession countries had "as much right to speak up as Britain or France or any other member of the European Union".

"I also think that their views are interesting because they're countries that have a real sense of history for very obvious reasons and a history of a more recent nature than our own. They know the value too of Europe and America speaking together," he said.

Blair did little to disguise his irritation with France. "It doesn't mean we don't have disagreements from time to time," he said. "There's a difference between us but there's a massive amount in common."

In contrast to his dismissal of president Chirac's stance, the prime minister heaped praise on George W Bush.

Blair said the US should not be judged on a "parody", pointing out that after September 11 there had been no rush to war.

"I do honestly believe that people should think carefully. Some of the rhetoric that I hear used about America is actually more savage than some of the rhetoric you hear used about Saddam and the Iraqi regime," he said.

"Now come on, let us get a sense of perspective here, America is our ally. America is a country that we have been together with over the past 100 years, stood together with in important times.

"That's not a reason why we should do whatever America wants, but it is a reason why we should at least approach this issue looking upon America as an ally and not as some alien power that operates against our interests."

Blair warned that America could lose confidence in the multilateral system if the UN failed to uphold resolution 1441.

"I'm under no illusions what the interplay of these arguments are with people, but I think just occasionally we should remind ourselves of the fact that America is an ally of Britain for very good reasons, and I personally am proud of that alliance," the prime minister added.

The Labour leader also defended his relationship with Germany.

Despite disagreements on Iraq, Blair said that Gerhard Schroeder's administration was taking the lead in the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.