A plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der
ect was Russian signals interference in Bulgaria.
Authorities in Bulgaria have determined that the GPS jamming incident, which affected the plane’s navigation sy
stem as it landed in Plovdiv, was likely initiated by Russia, according to a commission spokes
Balkan nation after the interference affected the airport, the spokesperson said.
“We are well aware that threats and intimidation are a regular component of Russia’s hostile actions,” the spok
esperson said in a statement. The Kremlin didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The commission president has been touring eastern Europe
an Union member states to discuss progress on building up military infrastructure to
confront Russian aggression. The bloc is rolling out a €150 billion ($176 billion) loan mechanism to finance defense expenditure as part of the effort.
On Sunday, von der Leyen flew to Bulgaria to tour the country’s biggest state-owned arms factory, some 150 kilomete
rs (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. As the commission-chartered plane approached for landing, the GPS signal
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disappeared, the Bulgarian government said in a statement.
Bulgaria’s civil aviation authority proposed an alternative approach using ground navigation aids independent of G
PS systems and performed a safe landing without redirecting the flight, according to the statement.
GPS jamming incidents have significantly increased across Europe since President Vladimir Putin launched a ful
l-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, hitting the Global Positioning System, or GPS, and affecting air and maritime communications.
The incidents have been particularly acute in the Baltic Sea region, well to the north of Bulgaria. Estonia’s regulator
has said that 85% of flig
hts in the country now experience disruption. They’ve also reported a rapid increase in intentional transmission of faulty coordinates, a practice known as spoofing.
The incident, which was first reported by the Financial Time
s, underscores the urgency of Von der Leyen’s trip to the east, the spokesperson said.
Photo: Ursula von der Leyen, Photographer: Ksenia Kuleshova/Bloomberg