The GPS of the plane of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has suffered jamming on its way to Bulgaria, and Russia is believed to be to blame, Reuters reports.
An EC spokesman confirmed that the GPS system was disrupted on the 31st of August, but it managed to land safely in Bulgaria. Bulgarian authorities have reportedly received information that Russia is suspected of brazen interference. The Russian government did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The EU also did not provide further details, but a spokesman said the incident would only reinforce the bloc’s unwavering belief in the need to strengthen defense capabilities and increase support for Ukraine, which has been fighting Russian aggression for three and a half years. However, it was not explained whether the EC President’s plane was deliberately threatened.
A Bulgarian government statement said that as the Von der Leyen plane approached Plovdiv, it lost its GPS signal and
air traffic controllers had to switch to ground-based navigation systems to land the plane safely.
Last year, Estonia accused Russia of causing GPS jamming in the airspace of the Baltic states. After the jamming prevented it from landing at Tartu airport, Finnair was forced to divert the plane back to Helsinki.
EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said on the 1st of September that the bloc would increase the number of low-orbit satellites to improve its ability to detect jamming.
GPS jamming is caused by devices that interfere with radio communications by transmitting a signal from the ground that is stronger than the signal from the satellite. If the GPS on a plane fails, it can be disabled for the duration of the flight, causing inconvenience and delays, as certain landing operations require GPS communications. However, large airports have sufficient tools to continue operations even if GPS is not working.
The incident with the EC President’s plane occurred while she was visiting EU countries bordering Russia, Belarus and the Black Sea.
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