Scheffer made the statement in answer to the question if NATO members were discussing a date when they would invite countries participating in NATO's Membership Action Plan -- Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia -- to join the military alliance.
US President George W. Bush said recently that the year 2008 would be a good date for admitting Croatia to NATO.
There is no formal decision as to when the heads of member states will meet again. This will most probably take place in the spring of 2008, and I wouldn't rule out that invitations will be sent then, Scheffer said.
He also said that the requirements for admission of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the Partnership for Peace programme had not changed, noting that he had never heard any Serbian politician say that Bosnian Serb wartime military commander Ratko Mladic should be arrested.
The NATO summit, due to take place in the Latvian capital Riga on November 28 and 29, will be dedicated to the transformation and adjustment of the alliance to be able to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and will also focus on key security issues and NATO-led peace missions worldwide, Scheffer said.