BULGARIA – The navigation system of a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was disrupted by suspected Russian interference as she arrived in southern Bulgaria, officials said on Monday.
A Commission spokesperson confirmed the aircraft experienced “GPS jamming” on Sunday but landed safely at Plovdiv Airport.
Bulgarian authorities told Brussels they believed the disruption was caused by “blatant interference by Russia.”
According to the Financial Times, the pilots were forced to rely on paper maps after satellite signals were neutralised.
Bulgaria’s Air Traffic Services Authority said terrestrial navigation tools were used to guide the plane safely to the ground.
The European Commission condemned the incident, describing it as part of Moscow’s “regular threats and intimidation” and vowed to strengthen the EU’s defence and support for Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the allegations as “incorrect.”
Bulgaria confirmed a sharp rise in GPS disruptions since January 2022, coinciding with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Aviation safety experts have repeatedly warned that satellite interference — blamed on Moscow — is affecting thousands of civilian flights across Europe.
Cyrille Rosay, a senior cybersecurity expert at the EU Aviation Safety Agency, said such incidents have worsened since the war began. “This is becoming a persistent safety risk,” he told the BBC.
Von der Leyen was in Bulgaria as part of a regional tour of eastern EU states focused on defence readiness. A Commission spokesperson said she had “seen first-hand the everyday threats from Russia and its proxies.”
