PARIS (AP) — President Emmanuel Macron will unveil a new national military service plan Thursday as France seeks to bolster its armed forces to address growing concerns over Russia’s threat to European nations beyond the war in Ukraine.

Macron will stress the “need to prepare the nation for growing threats,” the president’s office said ahead of his visit to the Varces military base, in the French Alps.

Earlier this year, Macron announced his intention to provide French youth with a new option to voluntarily serve in the military. Conscription, which France ended in 1996, is not being considered.

France is seeking to boost its defenses as Russia’s war in Ukraine puts the European continent at “great risk,” Macron said.

“The day that you send a signal of weakness to Russia — which for 10

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