A plane carrying European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen experienced GPS jamming while flying over Bulgaria in what officials suspect was a Russian operation. The aircraft landed safely at Plovdiv International Airport in the south-central region on Monday, though it was forced to circle the airport for an hour before touching down.
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Arianna Podestà, spokesperson for the Commission, confirmed the interference and said Bulgarian authorities suspected “blatant” Russian involvement. Ms von der Leyen, a long-standing critic of President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine, continued with her scheduled tour of the seven EU nations bordering Russia and Belarus. Podestà noted that the incident highlighted the urgency of the mission to strengthen support for frontline member states.
Bulgarian authorities reported that the satellite signal used for navigation had been disrupted as the aircraft approached Plovdiv, resulting in the temporary loss of GPS. Following the incident, the Commission reiterated that the EU would continue to boost defence spending and improve its readiness to counter threats emanating from Russia and its proxies. Ms von der Leyen later addressed a press conference in Romania, as originally planned.
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This is not the first time European leaders have faced such interference. In 2024, Russia was accused of jamming the GPS signal of an RAF Dassault 900LX Falcon carrying then-defence secretary Grant Shapps. The electronic attack, which took place near Kaliningrad between Poland and Lithuania, was described as “wildly irresponsible” after the aircraft’s navigation was disrupted for around half an hour.
