President Von der Leyen of the European Commission’s plane was struck by suspected Russian GPS jamming in Bulgaria

Von der Leyen’s plane had to land using paper plans because it was thought that Russians were blocking its GPS signals in Bulgaria.

On Sunday, as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plane got closer to southern Bulgaria, it had trouble navigating. EU officials think this was caused by Russian GPS jamming.

A spokesperson for the Commission stated that von der Leyen’s plane did land safely at Plovdiv Airport, but the navigation system had been turned off in the middle of the flight, leaving the pilots to use paper maps and tools from the ground.

“We’ve heard from the Bulgarian government that they think this was caused by Russia’s obvious interference,” the spokesperson said.

According to the Financial Times, pilots went back to using manual ways when the GPS satellite signal was blocked.

Brussels spoke out against the event and said it was part of Moscow’s habit of making threats and scaring people. Andrius Kubilius, the EU’s defense commissioner, said that the bloc would react by sending up more satellites to make it easier to spot GPS interference and improve defenses.

The government of Bulgaria stated that the satellite signal was “neutralized” during the flight. To make sure everyone was safe, local air control services quickly offered other ways to navigate.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russia’s Kremlin, said that the report was false and that the information was “incorrect.”

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, tens of thousands of cases of GPS jamming have been recorded by aviation authorities across Europe, mostly in the Baltic region and around Kaliningrad. In 2024, a fake attack happened near Russian airspace that hit an RAF plane carrying Grant Shapps, who was UK Defense Secretary at the time.

Analysts say that this kind of influence, which used to be rare, is now a “constant feature” of flying near Russia, which makes it less safe for planes.

Von der Leyen was in Bulgaria as part of a tour of eastern EU countries to talk about getting ready for defense. A spokesman for the Commission said she had “seen firsthand the everyday threats from Russia and its allies.”