Green party would like NATO replaced by new European defence system

The Czech Green Party says in its election programme that at some point in the future it would like to see NATO replaced by a new European defence system. This new system should be made up not only of combat units but also include police units, firemen and emergency forces in order to meet the needs of the present day, predominantly the threat of terrorism. The response to the idea on the Czech political scene has been generally negative. The opposition Civic Democrats dismissed it as utterly naïve, while the ruling Social Democrats pointed out that Europe already had a well functioning defence system.