Ursula von der Leyen's chartered plane forced to circle Plovdiv airport after suspected Russian GPS jamming. Image: Aero Time.
(The Post News) – A chartered plane of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen lost its GPS signal as it was landing at Plovdiv on Sunday, leading pilots to circle for nearly an hour before making a safe landing with the help of conventional navigation aids. EU officials and Bulgarian authorities believe that Russia jammed the signal in what they describe as another aggressive interference.
European Commission press spokeswoman Arianna Podestà confirmed the disturbance and said Bulgarian authorities believed there was Russian interference. “Bulgarian authorities suspect overt interference on Russia’s part,” Podestà said. “Threats and intimidation are part of Russia’s aggressive conduct, and we are accustomed to dealing with them.”
The Financial Times first reported the story, saying the Dassault Falcon 900LX jet on which von der Leyen flew had to use paper maps and radio-based navigation after GPS connection was interrupted. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov brushed off the allegation, saying the data were “incorrect.”
Russia GPS Jamming Turns Routine Flights Into Security Flashpoints
Jamming of GPS involves broadcasting a stronger ground signal, overwhelming satellite navigation, and denying pilots accurate positional data. Aviation specialists say commercial aircraft can use backup systems, but continuous interference increases risks and tensions.
Keir Giles, who is an expert on Russia at Chatham House, said jamming had become business as usual in airspace near Russia. “These incidents have evolved from sporadic events to constant disruption,” Giles explained. “Moscow made them the norm, and nobody has been able to stop the campaign.”
Bulgaria’s Civil Aviation Authority acknowledged the disruption, claiming air traffic controllers directed von der Leyen’s aircraft in to land using terrestrial navigation systems. Officials insisted that passengers were never actually at risk but acknowledged the disruption involved unnecessary risks.
Growing Pattern of Interference
Von der Leyen’s interrupted flight follows a series of such incidents:In March 2024, former UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps travelled on an RAF aircraft whose GPS signals went out for half an hour as it flew close to Kaliningrad. Finnish Finnair cancelled flights to Estonia’s Tartu last year due to persistent jamming that made it impossible for pilots to land safely at the airport. Lithuania and Poland registered thousands of instances of interference in the first half of 2025, EU reports indicate, as cases doubled in some areas from last year.
A May in-house EU report concluded that Russia and Belarus had waged a “systemic, deliberate campaign” of GPS jamming. The attacks labeled them as cheap to launch but very disruptive to civilian shipping and aviation.
EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said that the bloc will deploy new low-orbit satellites to boost its capacity to detect interference to GPS. He also assured that Brussels is drawing up an aviation-specific protection program. “This event only strengthens our irreversibly firm commitment to enhance Europe’s defense capabilities and assist Ukraine,” Kubilius said.
Von der Leyen, on her way to the frontline EU states of Lithuania, Poland, and Romania, did not mention the jamming in public remarks on Monday. Instead, she spoke of the long-term pressure being exerted on Europe’s eastern members. “While Lithuania is put to the test, Europe is put to the test,” she told journalists in Vilnius. The disruption is described by security officials as a measured escalation by Moscow.
Russia uses GPS jamming as a means of making a political statement: no one is beyond its reach, including EU leaders,” said Matthew Sussex, visiting fellow at the Australian National University. “It’s all part of the hybrid warfare designed to intimidate and destabilize.” He argued that targeting von der Leyen during a visit to the eastern edge of Europe was symbolic. “The timing shows Russia wanted to disrupt her mission and remind Europe of its weaknesses,” he said.
The reported jamming also coincided with another reported Russian aggression incident. Ukrainian police accused Moscow of the assassination of ex-parliamentary speaker Andriy Parubiy in Lviv on Saturday. A mock courier gunman assassinated him in broad daylight. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the killing as a “horrific murder” and said it highlighted the ongoing security dangers within a country still fighting Russia’s three-and-a-half-year-old occupation.
The escalation came amid Western leaders’ horse-trading over long-term guarantees of security for Kyiv. US President Donald Trump has called for renewed negotiations with Moscow, but threats of sanctions from him have yet to change Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stance. Von der Leyen stressed the need for Europe to prepare itself for long-term conflict. She insisted that the initial line of defense of Ukraine is its “strong, well-equipped, and experienced” army, and the second is an international coalition of allies willing to provide support if needed.
Diplomats say that the GPS incident underscores the requirement for preparations. “This was not just a technical failure; it was a political message,” one EU official said. Electronic jamming, a one-day wonder, is now occurring daily in most of Europe. Although pilots are trained to react to loss of GPS, experts indicate ongoing jamming increases the risk of miscommunication, mid-air collisions, or forced landings.
“Each disruption undermines aviation security,” Giles said. “The fact that it was done to the EU’s representative leader shows how blatant Russia has become.” As von der Leyen goes on her tour of Eastern Europe, EU officials hold that the union will act with a harder security. For Brussels, the incident could be a turning point in Europe’s approach to Moscow’s electronic warfare policy.
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