EU Takes Strong Anti-Moscow Stand After 'GPS Jamming' of Chief's Plane

Incident Adds Credibility to von der Leyen's Tour of States Bordering Russia and Ukraine

- Jonathan Eyal

BRUSSELS - European Union officials have vowed to "reinforce even further" their confrontation with Russia and support for Ukraine after Russian agents were accused of jamming the satellite signals of a plane carrying European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

Dr von der Leyen embarked on a tour of the so-called European "front-line states" bordering Russia and Ukraine, a vast region stretching from the Baltic nations in the northern part of the continent, to Bulgaria and Romania in Europe's south-east.

On Sept 1, the executive jet she was on was approaching the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv when it suddenly lost all its GPS satellite navigation signals. The plane's pilots were forced to circle the town several times and resorted to paper maps and radio emergency navigation aids to land.

This was due to "blatant interference from Russia", said European Commission deputy spokeswoman Arianna Podesta, citing accusations from the Bulgarian authorities.

"Threats and intimidations are a regular component of Russia's hostile behaviour," she added.

Russia is often accused of either jamming or "spoofing" - electronic interference that sends incorrect navigation information - signals of aircraft belonging to Western nations. Until now, most of these incidents have occurred in the air-space above the Baltic Sea.

Clues about the origins of these operations are now fairly conclusive. In March 2024, a British military jet carrying the country's defence minister was deprived of GPS signals for more than half an hour as it flew near the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad in the Baltic region.

Since their 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Russians have also been jamming GPS signals above the Black Sea, affecting air navigation to Bulgaria and Romania.

But the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv is more than 200km from the shores of the Black Sea.