Plane carrying EU chief Ursula von der Leyen targeted by suspected Russian GPS jamming, probe ordered

The Global Positioning System (GPS) of a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was jammed while she was on her way to Bulgaria on Sunday, a European Union spokesperson said on Monday while confirming earlier media reports.

The plane landed safely at a Bulgarian airport, the spokesperson added, while saying that Sofia told the Commission that it was “blatant interference” by Russia, a Reuters report said.

“We can indeed confirm that there was GPS jamming, but the plane landed safely in Bulgaria. We have received information from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia,” Reuters quoted the spokesperson as saying.

The European Union has launched a probe into the matter, the official added.

Earlier, Reuters cited a Financial Times report, claiming that a suspected Russian interference attack disabled GPS navigation services at a Bulgarian airport and forced Leyen’s plane to land at Plovdiv on Sunday guided by paper maps.

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