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The crew of a plane carrying European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen was forced to land in Bulgaria using paper navigation charts after the aircraft lost access to its GPS signal. The Financial Times first reported the incident, which was later confirmed by the EC itself. Officials in Brussels suspect Russia was behind the disruption.
The incident occurred on Aug. 31. Sources told the FT that GPS signals were lost across the area of Plovdiv Airport. The plane carrying von der Leyen circled the airport for an hour before pilots decided to attempt a landing using paper charts.
The Commission’s press office later confirmed the account, as was reported in Politico and Deutsche Welle. Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta said the plane landed safely, but Bulgarian authorities informed Brussels that the disruption was likely caused by Russia. She described it as “blatant interference.”
Von der Leyen was traveling on a chartered flight, as EU leaders do not have official aircraft. The incident did not alter the planned route.
On Sunday, von der Leyen visited the town of Sopot, the site of Bulgaria’s largest munitions factory. Her trip was part of a broader tour of EU member states bordering Russia and Belarus, meant to show solidarity and promote the bloc’s €800 billion plan to boost defense spending.
“We have to keep up the sense of urgency,” she said during the visit, speaking next to Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov. “Putin has not changed, and he will not change. He is a predator. He can only be kept in check through strong deterrence.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments to the FT, denied Russia had any role in the incident.
Several countries bordering Russia — Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland — have previously reported being subjected to heavy GPS jamming. In late July, Estonian authorities said as many as 85% of flights in the country’s airspace experienced disruptions, while Lithuania reported a nearly 25% rise in such incidents over the past year. GPS interference has affected not only air and maritime traffic but also the frequencies used by mobile phones, according to reporting by Bloomberg.
Plovdiv, however, is located inland — more than 200 kilometers from the Black Sea and around 750 kilometers from the coast of Russian-occupied Crimea.