Brussels, 27/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 25 May, the EU Council of Ministers adopted a decision to extend by four months (until 30 September 2010) the mandate of the EU security sector reform mission in Guinea Bissau (EUSSR Guinea-Bissau). The final decision on the mission's future and the EU's commitment to it will have to be taken by the end of June 2010 and will be determined by a strategic review and assessment of developments in Guinea Bissau. In a press release published by the mission on Wednesday 26 May and quoted by AFP, it says it will be suspending its work from 31 May onwards. The press release adds that the mandate of the mission's head, General Juan Esteban Versategui, will end on 31 May and the new mission to apply the reform process that was due to start on 1 June has been suspended on the orders of the European Union following the events of 1 April. On 1 April, there was another of a series of attempted coup d'états that have regularly occurred in the country since 2008. In the 1 April coup, the country's military overturned the head of the armed forces, José Zamora Induta, and briefly arrested the country's prime minister, Carlos Gomes Junior, who was close to the general, threatening him with death. The EU's mission started in 2008 in order to provide assistance and advice to the government of Guinea Bissau to help it reform the police and the armed forces and implement a national security strategy. In a conclusions document adopted on 26 April 2010, the EU Council of Ministers praised the mission's work but said that future EU commitment to the reform process would depend on political developments in Guinea Bissau, including respect of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. (A.By./transl.fl)