A plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was forced to land using paper maps in Bulgaria on Sunday, August 31st, after a suspected Russian interference operation disabled its GPS navigation system.
Von der Leyen was en route from Warsaw to meet Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and visit a local ammunition factory. Bulgaria has supplied Ukraine with both legacy Soviet-era weaponry and modern artillery from its defence industry, becoming the most important European supplier of military equipment.
The incident occurred as the jet approached Plovdiv Airport, leaving pilots to rely on paper maps to safely complete the landing.
“The whole airport area GPS went dark,” claimed one of the officials.
Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority confirmed that GPS signals in the airport area were disrupted, noting a sharp rise in jamming and spoofing incidents in Eastern Europe since February 2022.
A European Commission spokesperson confirmed the interference, adding that Bulgarian authorities suspect Russia was behind the disruption. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied the allegations.
Despite the GPS disruption, von der Leyen completed her visit and departed Plovdiv on the same aircraft without further incident.
