FLASH NEWS
Alarming incident in Bulgaria! Ursula von der Leyen's plane loses GPS signal, suspicions of Russian interference
2025-09-01 12:40:46 / BOTA
The plane of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen lost access to GPS navigation systems while approaching for landing at Plovdiv airport in Bulgaria on Sunday.
As a result, the pilots were forced to land the plane manually using traditional paper maps, as all electronic navigation systems failed.
According to three officials quoted by the Financial Times, the incident is being treated as a possible act of sabotage by Russia. “ The entire area around the airport lost its GPS signal. This is an undisputed interference,” one of the officials said.
The plane remained in the air, circling for almost an hour, before the pilot decided to land it manually using analogue tools.
It is suspected that the signal disruption may have been caused by "jamming" (signal blocking) or "spoofing" (signal manipulation), which led to the complete neutralization of satellite navigation systems in that area.
This incident is related to the growing wave of interference in GPS systems, a practice that in the past was used for military purposes or institutional protection, but which today increasingly appears as a means of destabilization.
Breaking news: A suspected Russian interference attack targeting the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, disabled GPS navigation services at a Bulgarian airport and forced the commission president's plane to land using paper maps. https://t.co/FguqRHYCTY pic.twitter.com/d2FBcdnu9R
— Financial Times (@FT) September 1, 2025
European governments have expressed serious concerns about these interferences, which are increasingly attributed to Russia, warning of a real risk to aviation security.
Von der Leyen was traveling from Warsaw to Plovdiv to meet Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and visit a defense industry factory. During her visit, she declared : “Russian President Vladimir Putin has not changed and will not change. He is a predator. He can only be stopped by a strong deterrent force.”
Bulgaria is one of the main European suppliers of military aid to Ukraine, initially sending Soviet-era equipment and later providing artillery and domestically produced defense products.
Von der Leyen left Bulgaria on the same plane. The incident has caused serious concern in Brussels, deepening fears about the intensification of Russian activity on European soil, at a time when Moscow is trying to undermine EU cohesion through new forms of hybrid attacks.
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