Washington [US], September 2: The plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has just had its navigation system jammed while in Bulgarian airspace, suspected to be by Russia.
European Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta said on September 1 that a plane carrying the commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, had its global positioning system (GPS) jammed in Bulgarian airspace, suspected to be caused by Russian interference.
The plane landed safely at Plovdiv airport in Bulgaria and Ms. von der Leyen will continue her planned tour of European Union (EU) countries bordering Russia and Belarus, according to the AP news agency.
"We can indeed confirm that GPS jamming has occurred . We have received information from Bulgarian authorities that they suspect it is due to clear interference from Russia," Podesta said.
The incident comes as Ms von der Leyen, a vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, is on a four-day tour of EU member states."In fact, this incident underscores the urgency of the president's work in frontline member states," Podesta said, adding that von der Leyen had "seen first-hand the challenges posed on a daily basis by the threats posed by Russia and its proxies."
"And of course, the EU will continue to invest in defence spending and further enhance European preparedness in the wake of this incident," Podesta said.
Bulgaria said in a statement that the satellite signal used for the plane's GPS navigation system was interrupted. "As the plane approached Plovdiv airport, the GPS signal was lost," Bulgaria said.
Russia has not commented on the above information.
In an interview with the Financial Times on August 31, Ms. von der Leyen said that Europe is building a "quite detailed plan" on deploying a multinational force to Ukraine, in a commitment to ensure post-conflict security with the support of US capabilities.
The deployment could involve tens of thousands of European-led troops, supported by US command and control and intelligence and surveillance assets, and was agreed upon at a meeting between US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and senior European leaders last month.
European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Ms von der Leyen are expected to gather in Paris on September 4 at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron to continue high-level discussions on the Ukraine issue, according to diplomatic sources.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
