European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen’s personal plane was hit but a suspected “Russian GPS strike” forcing the plane to land.
Von der Leyen travelling to Bulgaria on Sunday afternoon when it lost all electronic navigational aids whilst it was approaching the capital’s airport forcing the pilots to use paper maps.
The European Commission President was travelling from Warsaw, Poland to meet with the Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.
An official told the Financial Times, “The whole airport area GPS went dark.
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“It was undeniable interference.”
It is suspected that Bulgaria’s Plovdiv International Airport’s GPS was either spoofed of jammed, this blocks out access to navigational systems which Russia has been consistent in doing.
The source said that the plane was circling around the airport for an hour then the pilots made the decision to use paper maps.
Von der Leyen said, “Putin has not changed, and he will not change.
“He is a predator. He can only be kept in check through strong deterrence.”
An EU spokesperson told Sky News, “We can confirm there was GPS jamming but the plane landed safe.
“We have received information from Bulgarian authorities that they suspect this blatant interference was carried out by Russia.
“We are well aware that threats and intimidation are a regular component of Russia’s hostile actions.
“This will further reinforce our unshakable commitment to ramp up our defence capabilities and support for Ukraine.
“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.
“The EU will continue to invest in defence and in Europe’s readiness.”
In 2024 an RAF aircraft that carrying the then Defence Secretary Grant Shapps was using electronic warfare systems to jam the GPS signal.
Russia jammed satellite signal on the RAF aircraft was flying to Poland close to the Russian enclave Kaliningrad.
The GPS signal and internet connections and mobile phones were jammed for around half an hour on the RAF plane however, the pilots have other means of being able to navigate.
In 2024 Russian jammed thousands of British holiday flights, in total 82 British Airways flights, four easyJet, 1,368 Wizz Air and 2,309 Ryanair flights were jammed.
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