TBILISI, Georgia (AFP)--North Atlantic Treaty Organization chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Tuesday that Georgia's road into the military alliance was "wide open" and indicated that he would not be put off from accepting its candidacy by Russia.
"The process of NATO enlargement will continue," he told lawmakers and students in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, a day after setting up a NATO-Georgia commission to oversee Georgia's alliance aspirations.
"No other country will have a veto," the secretary general said in a clear reference to Russia. "The road to NATO is still wide open to Georgia. We will not allow our ties to be broken by outside countries."
De Hoop Scheffer said, however, that Russia should not be penalized for last month's war with Georgia. "Punishing Russia is not the way forward. The way (forward) is to help Georgia," he said.
Scheffer underlined the alliance's desire for deeper ties with Georgia, a key pro-Western ally in the volatile Caucasus region, saying: "The process of NATO enlargement will continue."