Bulgaria disputes reports of Russian GPS jamming during top EU official’s flight

Bulgarian authorities have denied reports that Russia was behind the GPS interference that affected a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Aug. 31. The local outlet bTV Novinite cited Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov as saying earlier claims of Russian involvement were unfounded.

Earlier this week, the Financial Times, citing officials briefed on the incident, reported that von der Leyen’s plane encountered GPS disruptions during its approach to the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, with Russia suspected of involvement.

However, speaking to reporters, Zhelyazkov said there were “no grounds” to launch an investigation, since the interference was not a Russian cyberattack.

“Since 2022, with the start of the war in Ukraine, modern warfare methods have included so-called electronic warfare, which involves deliberate interference in the radio-frequency spectrum. These disruptions have been observed in recent years in conflict zones, but also detected from Helsinki across the Black Sea — from Yerevan, Tbilisi, Cyprus, Syria and even Tripoli. All of this is interference affecting the radio-frequency spectrum of GPS signals transmitted by satellites orbiting some 20 kilometers above Earth,” the outlet quoted him as saying.

The prime minister described the incident as routine, saying “these things happen daily.” The interference, he added, had not targeted von der Leyen’s plane specifically, something the crew confirmed.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Grozdan Karadzhov told bTV Novinite that Bulgaria’s Communications Regulation Commission had not detected any major GPS failure aboard the flight. He said the plane’s pilots reported only “minor glitches” in the navigation system.

The Financial Times first reported on Sept. 1 that von der Leyen’s plane lost GPS signal while preparing to land in Plovdiv on Aug. 31, forcing the pilots to circle for nearly an hour before landing the aircraft using paper maps. The European Commission later confirmed the incident.

However, flight-tracking service Flightradar24 did not corroborate reports of a significant delay to von der Leyen’s journey. According to its data, the flight lasted 1 hour 57 minutes, compared to the scheduled 1 hour 48 minutes, indicating the delay was minor. The service also noted there had been no serious GPS disruptions recorded during the flight.