New Delhi: A plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was reportedly subjected to GPS jamming over Bulgarian airspace, in what authorities suspect was an act of interference by Russia, a spokesperson confirmed on Monday.
The aircraft was en route to Plovdiv Airport as part of von der Leyen’s visit to EU nations bordering Russia and Belarus when it experienced a loss of GPS signal during its approach. Despite the disruption, the flight landed safely.
“We can indeed confirm that there was GPS jamming,” said spokesperson Eric Mamer Podestà, according to the media reports.
“We have received information from the Bulgarian authority that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia,” he further noted, as per the reports.
“This incident actually underlines the urgency of the mission that the President is carrying out in the front-line member states,” he added, noting that von der Leyen has witnessed “firsthand the everyday challenges of threats coming from Russia and its proxies.”
Von der Leyen, a consistent and outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow’s war in Ukraine, has continued her tour as planned.
The Bulgarian government also issued a statement confirming the disruption, “The satellite signal used for the aircraft’s GPS navigation was disrupted. As the aircraft approached Plovdiv Airport, the GPS signal was lost.”
In response to the incident, the European Commission reiterated its commitment to bolstering defence readiness and increasing investment to address growing electronic and hybrid threats.