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By Ellie Cook
Senior Defense Reporter
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Russia has denied it was behind the failure of the navigation system onboard European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's plane as it tried to land at an airport in Bulgaria.
"Your information is incorrect," Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told British newspaper The Financial Times on Monday in remarks also widely carried by Russian state media.
Why It Matters
Several NATO countries in Europe have reported extensive interference with aircraft navigation systems in recent years, the finger often pointed at Russia.
Read More on World
Jamming and spoofing of satellite navigation systems, such as GPS, can impact military aircraft, weapons and drones, but can also confuse commercial and civilian planes. Spoofing is when navigation systems throw up false location data.
What To Know
Arianna Podesta, deputy chief spokesperson for the European Commission, told Newsweek the aircraft carrying the chief of the European Union's executive arm had experienced GPS jamming "but the plane landed safe."
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The plane was forced to touch down at Bulgaria's Plovdiv Airport, southeast of the capital, Sofia, using paper maps to navigate, the FT reported. "The whole airport area GPS went dark," an unnamed official told the newspaper.
"We have received information from Bulgarian authorities that they suspect this blatant interference was carried out by Russia," Podesta said.
Bulgaria's government said that during the aircraft's flight, "the satellite signal transmitting information to the plane's GPS navigation system was neutralised."
"To ensure the flight's safety, air control services immediately offered an alternative landing method using terrestrial navigation tools," it added in a statement published by Bulgarian media.
Some European officials, including Estonia's foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, have described GPS interference as a deliberate Russian tactic, and part of Moscow's hybrid warfare arsenal. Hybrid warfare refers to a range of activities stopping short of open fighting, like cyberattacks, information campaigns or the targeting of vulnerable infrastructure.
"It is a fact that Russia is influencing GPS devices in our airspace," Tsahkna said last year. "Not just Estonia, in our region." GPS jamming has plagued the Baltic Sea region, particularly close to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which is surrounded by NATO members.
"We are well aware that threats and intimidation are a regular component of Russia's hostile actions," Podesta said.
Latvia's Civil Aviation Agency said in July that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations agency, had expressed "grave concern over GNSS signal interference originating from the Russian Federation." GNSS is a more general term that refers to any satellite navigation system, whereas GPS is specifically U.S.-developed.
Estonia's transport administration published a similar readout, which described Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Finland as the EU countries most impacted by satellite navigation interference. These countries are now all NATO members, and form the eastern flank of the alliance, close to Russia.
"This will further reinforce our unshakable commitment to ramp up our defence capabilities and support for Ukraine," Podesta added.
Von der Leyen was in Bulgaria as part of a trip to visit the economic bloc's member states in close proximity to Russia and Moscow's close ally, Belarus. The EU, which shares many member states with NATO, has this year unveiled a raft of measures designed to boost defense spending, including loans.
"This incident underlines the urgency of the President's current trip to frontline Member States, where she has seen first hand the every day threats from Russia and its proxies," Podesta said.
What People Are Saying
Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania's former foreign minister, said in a post to X: "Deeply concerned to hear about the deeply concerning GPS interference that diverted @vonderleyen's flight. Europe stands united in expression of deep concerns and must commit to the deployment of ever-deepening concerns moving forward."
Arianna Podesta, deputy chief spokesperson for the European Commission, said in a statement: "The EU will continue to invest in defence and in Europe's readiness."
What Happens Next
Von der Leyen is expected to wrap up her trip to "frontline Member States" in Romania on Monday.
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