The European Commission has confirmed that President von der Leyen's plane was subject to suspected Russian GPS jamming as it attempted to land in Bulgaria yesterday.
According to reports, the pilot of the chartered flight was forced to use analogue maps to land the plane at Plovdiv Airport.
"We can indeed confirm that there was GPS jamming, but the plane landed safely in Bulgaria," said Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta.
"We have received information from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia.
"We are, of course, aware and used to the threats and intimidations that are a regular component of Russia's hostile behavior."
President von der Leyen was flying to Bulgaria as part of a tour of frontline EU member states affected by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ms Podesta told reporters: "Whether this was intended to target the plane on which the President was traveling or not, I think the question is best asked for sure to the Russians."
The Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority confirmed the incident in a statement to the Financial Times.
"Since February 2022, there has been a notable increase in [GPS] jamming and recently spoofing occurrences," it said.
"These interferences disrupt the accurate reception of [GPS] signals, leading to various operational challenges for aircraft and ground systems."
Jamming is the deliberate use of electronic warfare systems to interfere with radio signals relating to information about an aircraft’s location, altitude and its arrival time.
Spoofing is where electronic warfare systems deliberately send erroneous GPS signals on an aircraft’s location and altitude, meaning the aircraft may be shown in a different location than it really is.
According to an internal note from the EU to member states, jamming and spoofing have increased "drastically" in the Baltic Sea region since 2022, while disruption to signals in the maritime sphere has also increased.
The note said that Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) interference cases were "not random incidents but a systematic, deliberate action by Russia and Belarus, which can be used as a hybrid attack on strategic radio spectrum, which is essential for modern technology and regional safety and security".
It added that such interference was "a growing safety and security concern" which required "immediate coordinated action".
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In June, 13 member states wrote to the European Commission calling for "immediate and coordinated" action in response to the alleged Russian jamming activity.
The joint letter was signed by the transport ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, Slovakia, Finland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark and Romania.
