Georgian PM hoping EU candidate status will be granted at upcoming EU summit

TBILISI. Dec 13 (Interfax) - Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has written a letter to EU leaders and expressed the hope they will approve EU candidate status for Georgia later this week.

'Granting candidate status also will serve as an additional impetus for establishing lasting peace in Georgia. [...] The future of Georgia lies in the EU, and there is no alternative to it. Our nation and my government expect that EU member states will take strategic and a forward-looking decision this week that will firmly anchor Georgia - a future EU member state - with the family of European democracies," Garibashvili said in the letter published on Wednesday.

EU membership is associated with long-term commitments and responsibility, Garibashvili said. "My government remains fully mobilized and resolved to continue and further accelerate reforms necessary on the EU accession path," he said.

A decision to begin EU membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova and to grant EU candidate status to Georgia is expected to be made at the EU summit on December 14-15.