A plane carrying the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was targeted by GPS navigation jamming while trying to land in Bulgaria on Sunday, a spokesperson for the commission told CNN.
The commission received “information from Bulgarian authorities that they suspect this blatant interference was carried out by Russia,” said European Commission Deputy Chief Spokesperson Arianna Podestà.
The Kremlin has denied the allegation, with Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying claims of Moscow’s involvement were “fake,” calling it “paranoia” from Europe during a press conference on Thursday.
plane landed safely, the European Commission spokesperson said. A source familiar with the situation told CNN the pilots landed the plane using paper maps.
Von der Leyen and the commission have been staunch supporters of Ukraine as Kyiv tries to defend itself against Russia’s unprovoked aggression. She was one of the European leaders who attended US President Donald Trump’s summit on Ukraine and has consistently urged EU member states to allocate more resources to helping Ukraine.
The incident occurred as the president was about to land at the Plovdiv International Airport in the south of Bulgaria, part of her tour around member states in the eastern part of the bloc to rally support for Ukraine.
“This incident underlines the urgency of the president’s current trip to frontline Member States, where she has seen first hand the every day threats from Russia and its proxies,” Podestà told CNN.
