Assembly/AU/4(XII) Page 4 d) Joint Meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) and the European Union Political and Security Committee (EUCOPS), 30 September 2008, Brussels 17. At the invitation of the Republic of France, in its capacity as the country holding the Presidency of the European Union (EU) for the period July to December 2008, the PSC participated in a joint meeting with the EU Political and Security Committee in Brussels, Belgium, on 30 September 2008. The meeting had an exchange of views on the strengthening of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), including African peacekeeping capacities, as well as on crisis and conflict situations in Africa and Europe, in particular Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Georgia and Kosovo. The meeting agreed to hold joint meetings between EUCOPS and the AUPSC each year, alternatively in Addis Ababa and in Brussels. e) Retreat of the Peace and Security Council, Livingstone, Zambia, 4-5 December 2008 18. The Peace and Security Council of the African Union held a Retreat in Livingstone, Zambia, from 4 to 5 December 2008, to consider an appropriate mechanism for interaction between the Peace and Security Council and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the promotion of peace, security and stability in Africa. Subsequently, at its 161st meeting held on 16 December 2008, the PSC adopted the Conclusions on a mechanism for interaction between the PSC and the Civil Society Organisations in the promotion of peace, security and stability in Africa, as reflected in Annexe III to this Report. V. STATE OF PEACE AND SECURITY 19. The following paragraphs present an overview of the crisis and conflict situations in the continent. They first deal with the unconstitutional changes of Government that occurred during the period under review and then give an account of developments in other crisis and conflict situations most of which have been regularly considered by the PSC. a) Unconstitutional Changes of Government 20. One of the major trends during this period was the resurgence of the scourge of coups d’état, with unconstitutional changes of Government occurring in Mauritania on 6 August 2008 and in Guinea on 24 December 2008, and the attack against the residence of the Head of State of Guinea Bissau in the aftermath of the legislative elections of 16 November 2008. Evidently, this development constitutes a cause for concern and represents real political retrogression in the continent. 21. In Mauritania, the coup d’état of 6 August 2008 overthrew the democratically elected government of President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. The Assembly will recall that the election of President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was the culmination of an exemplary transition supported by both the AU and the international community. 22. Nearly six months after the coup d’état and in spite of the efforts deployed by the AU with the support of international partners, no progress has been made in the search for a solution in line with the terms of the crisis exit plan as articulated by the