European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s office on Monday accused Russia of attempting to interfere with GPS equipment onboard a plane carrying the commission president while trying to land in Bulgaria over the weekend.
Commission officials told the Financial Times that the plane carrying von der Leyen and others, which landed safely using paper maps, experienced issues with its GPS equipment on Sunday while attempting to land in Bulgaria.
“There was GPS jamming but the plane landed safely in Bulgaria,” a commission spokesperson said.
“We have received info from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect that this was because of blatant interference by Russia.
“We are of course aware and used to the threats and intimidation that are a regular component of Russia’s hostile behaviour.”
The European Commission’s deputy chief spokesperson, Arianna Podestà, told CNN: “This incident underlines the urgency of the president’s current trip to front-line member states, where she has seen first hand the every day threats from Russia and its proxies.”
A spokesperson for the Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority said in a statement: “Since February 2022, there has been a notable increase in [GPS] jamming and recently spoofing occurrences. These interferences disrupt the accurate reception of signals, leading to various operational challenges for aircraft and ground systems.”
A spokesperson for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, denied this accusation in a statement to the Financial Times.
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