Macron Says EU Must Work on New Security Pact to Put to Russia

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the European Parliament at the start of France's presidency of the Council of the European Union, during a plenary session in Strasbourg, France, January 19, 2022. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the European Parliament at the start of France's presidency of the Council of the European Union, during a plenary session in Strasbourg, France, January 19, 2022. (Reuters)
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Macron Says EU Must Work on New Security Pact to Put to Russia

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the European Parliament at the start of France's presidency of the Council of the European Union, during a plenary session in Strasbourg, France, January 19, 2022. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the European Parliament at the start of France's presidency of the Council of the European Union, during a plenary session in Strasbourg, France, January 19, 2022. (Reuters)

European Union countries must work together on a new stability and security deal that they could then discuss with Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron told the European Parliament on Wednesday.

Referring to "destabilization efforts" in the continent, Macron, speaking as France starts its presidency of the EU, said Europe wants to find a political response to the conflict in Ukraine.

"The security of our continent is indivisible", Macron said referring to Russia, adding that Europe must define its own security standards.

He added that Europe must "bring ourselves to a position to make sure they can be respected," without elaborating.

Earlier US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who arrived in Kyiv for talks, warned that Russia could launch a new attack at "very short notice".

Separately, Macron said the EU must review its relationships with the Western Balkans and offer them "sincere" prospects of joining the bloc.

The EU must also propose a new alliance to African countries, he said, adding that EU and African countries would discuss it at a summit in February.



Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 10 in a Restaurant in Northeast Nigeria

FILE - Nigerian soldiers man a checkpoint in Gwoza, northeast, Nigeria, April 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi, File)
FILE - Nigerian soldiers man a checkpoint in Gwoza, northeast, Nigeria, April 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi, File)
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Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 10 in a Restaurant in Northeast Nigeria

FILE - Nigerian soldiers man a checkpoint in Gwoza, northeast, Nigeria, April 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi, File)
FILE - Nigerian soldiers man a checkpoint in Gwoza, northeast, Nigeria, April 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi, File)

A suicide bomber in Nigeria’s northeast state of Borno killed at least 10 people and injured several others in an explosion in a restaurant, police said Saturday.

The blast occurred in the Konduga area late Friday, police spokesperson Nahum Daso told The Associated Press.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Nigeria’s northeast has been hit by attacks carried out by militants from the Boko Haram group and its splinter, the ISIS West Africa Province.

Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown militants, took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their own radical version of Islamic law. The conflict also has spilled into Nigeria’s northern neighbors.

Some 35,000 civilians have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in the northeastern region, according to the UN.

Despite promises by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to address Nigeria’s security challenges, the violence has persisted.