EU 'will not tolerate more coups' in Guinea-Bissau: Barroso

(MAPUTO) - European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said Friday the EU would not allow another military take-over in coup-prone Guinea-Bissau, after a junta seized power there on April 12.

"The European Union's position is clear: we will not tolerate more coups, constitutional order must be respected," Barroso said at a summit of Portuguese-speaking countries in the Mozambican capital Maputo.

"We cannot fail to register our great concern over the situation in Guinea-Bissau, where instability caused by some continues to impede the progress and prosperity for all. The Bissau-Guinean people have suffered a lot and deserve the opportunity to live in peace and stability," he said.

The EU has blacklisted 21 people accused of leading the coup in the small west African country.

In May the country's junta, parliament and a group of political parties signed a roadmap aimed at ending the crisis.

But the new transitional leaders were excluded from the summit of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), and Guinea-Bissau was instead represented by the deposed president, Raimundo Pereira.

Since independence from Portugal in 1974, the country's army and state have remained in constant conflict. No president has ever completed a full term in office.