By Baris Seckin
ROME (AA) - The commandant of NATO Defense College said the cohesion of the alliance has been even reinforced by Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent actions, now that the region sees the Russian threat.
Lt. Gen. Olivier Rittimann told Anadolu Agency in an interview that Ukraine was a partner of NATO and so there is a difference between a partner and an ally.
"Cohesion of NATO has been even reinforced by what President Vladimir Putin has been trying to achieve in Russia. Because now he proved that Russia is actually a threat for Europe and the whole area and it has really reinforced the cohesion and the solidarity between allies," Rittimann said.
Commenting on the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, he said Ukraine was a partner of NATO and the college has been working quite a lot with Ukraine for the last 20 years.
"In fact, if the recent events had not happened, we would have gone to Ukraine to work together in two weeks. Of course, we had to postpone this under the current conditions. I hope we just postponed it," he added.
He also stressed the Russian aggression that started in 2008 in Georgia and which continued in 2014 in Crimea and Donbas.
"So what it proves is that ... if you are a NATO ally you are still safe because we are (in) a solidarity with 30 allies working together and defending us together," he said.
Rittimann said the common response by every NATO member, every ally was to reject "this Russian invasion of Ukraine."
"I think that enlargement is something that needs to be decided first by NATO if they are accepting somebody to become a member and then by the nation which is interested in becoming a NATO member it is definitely not Russia nor China nor any others who has to decide whether Ukraine can become a NATO member or not.
"It is something that has to be discussed between the thirty members of NATO and the applicant. It's not to be interfered by anyone else," he added.
- 'Turkey is one of biggest contributors to NATO alliance'
"Turkey is one of the biggest contributors to the alliance, it is the second largest arm forces in NATO, Turkey is located in a region which is at the high interest of NATO, especially these days, in what we see in Ukraine, the Black Sea, is very important and so is the Middle East. So, Turkey is a very important ally to NATO," he said.
Rittimann said Turkiye contributed to the college since the beginning, adding that over 800 Turkish course members were educated there and that college was twice commanded by Turkish generals.
- Agenda of NATO Defense College
Pointing out that the college's agenda changed in 2014 as a result of Russia's annexation of Crimea and its policies towards eastern Ukraine, Rittimann said they have been working on crisis response operations for the last 20-25 years, but after Russia's increasing importance on the international scene after 2014, these studies turned to defense and deterrence.
"We have seen the importance of this with Russia's invasion of Ukraine recently. That's the hottest and most important topic here in college," he said.