Russia would have sabotaged the satellite signal at the Ursula von der Leyen plane, forcing him to fly over the arrival airport in Plovdiv for an hour in Bulgaria. The disturbing episode, an interference aimed at the GPS signal of the entire airport, did not actually have consequences for the charter. But it has rekindled the large alarm on the escalation along the European Eastern borders of episodes with disorders to the signals of electronic navigation (JAMAMING) and of alteration of the positions detected (spoofing), and on the dangers they represent for the safety of aviation. Von der Leyen’s aircraft did not have to change course, but was forced to traditional assistance from the ground without being able to use satellite systems for landing.
“We received information from the Bulgarian authorities” on the suspicions of “a clear interference by Russia,” said the spokesman for the EU executive, Arianna Podestà, confirming the episode reported first by the Financial Times.
“We are used to threats and intimidation, which are a regular component of Moscow’s hostile behavior,” he added. Sofia in turn confirmed the signal loss on the airport and the activation of alternative terrestrial systems to ensure flight safety. The spokesman for the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov, however, denied any involvement of Moscow: “Your information is incorrect,” he assured. And the Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini also intervened on the episode: “I do not be the aeronautical technician. I read that Russia denies any involvement, so I don’t comment on hypotheses, “he said about the story.
The accident in Bulgaria took place while the president of the EU commission was in flight from Warsaw to Plovdiv where he then met Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and then visited a ammunition factory. Here the protests led by the leader of the Filorusso Revival Party, Kostadin Kostadodinov, would also target a car, surrounded and repeatedly affected in the belief that Von der Leyen transported (circumstance not confirmed).
On the alleged Russian Jamming, it is not certain that the goal of sabotage was precisely the flight of Von der Leyen: according to the commission, other aircraft may have affected. However, it should be noted that Plovdiv’s airport has rarefied traffic, and unofficial sources such as Flightradar24.com record only one flight coming on Sunday. In the day, then, also the Chief of Staff of German Defense, Carsten Breuer, revealed that he had recently had two identical episodes with out of use GPS: one in flight north of the Baltic Sea and the other while visiting German troops in Lithuania: “We are dealing with deeds of sabotage and espionage, we are also subject to hybrid actions that we can bring back to the statue and also to Russia,” The phenomenon of satellite signal disorder is not new.
“We have witnessed numerous Jamming and Spoofing activities, especially on the eastern side,” explained the spokesman for the Anna-Kaisa Itkonen Commission. Thirteen Member States wrote in Brussels in June to ask for an intervention, while similar episodes have been recorded in recent years in the Baltic, with scheduled flights forced to return to Helsinki for the impossibility of landing in Tartu. So to a specific action plan for the aviation with the European Union of Aerial Security Agency, Eurocontrol, the Member States and the Aeronautical Industry, it also explained Itkonen.
The EU has already sanctioned several Russian companies involved in these attacks and intends to contribute to the global plan of the UN Agency for civil aviation. «Interference and spoofing damage our aerial, maritime and transport economies. Our EU Galileo Space Project can help! We already provide an authentication service to detect spoofing. We will increase the number of satellites in low terrestrial orbit to ensure greater robustness and we will improve the detection of interference, “said the EU Commissioner to defense Andrius Kubilius.