BERLIN (AFP) -- Georgia's candidacy as a potential NATO member must be pursued despite conflict between Georgian and Russian forces in South Ossetia, the German defense minister said in a newspaper due to appear Tuesday.

""Following the latest developments, the impression should not emerge that Georgia is now excluded for an unlimited period from NATO membership,"" said Franz Josef Jung, according to the daily Rheinische Post.
""We must draw Russia's attention to respecting the sovereignty of Georgia with regards to international law,"" said the minister.
France and Germany, with the support of a dozen other countries, refused to grant Georgia and Ukraine candidacy as prospective NATO members at the bloc's last summit in April.
By calling for Georgia's progressive integration into NATO, the United States sparked tense relations with Russia, which fears an expansion of the North Atlantic alliance on its southern doorstep.
Jung also commented on Georgia's other pro-Russian separatist region, Abkhazia, and said he was worried the situation there was becoming ""more and more fragile"".