Claims that Russia jammed the GPS system of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plane during her visit to Bulgaria have been refuted by flight data and official statements. The incident, which initially sparked widespread Western media coverage, was later contradicted by FlightRadar24’s tracking data showing no signal loss or navigational issues.
On Sunday, von der Leyen traveled to Plovdiv as part of an Eastern Europe tour of ‘frontline states.’ The visit was intended to bolster Western support for Ukraine, with her meeting Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov at the VMZ arms plant in Sopot. However, the initial reports suggested that her aircraft had experienced GPS interference, leading to an emergency landing and the use of paper charts.
These claims, however, were soon overshadowed by data from FlightRadar24, a reliable tracking service, which showed that the plane maintained good GPS signal quality throughout the flight. The aircraft landed nine minutes late, not an hour, with no indication of any disruption. This data contradicted the initial reports from Western media outlets, which had amplified the narrative of Russian interference.
Official sources, including Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and the European Commission, have since clarified that there was no evidence of GPS jamming, with the delay attributed to routine flight procedures. Despite these corrections, the original narrative about Russian interference remains prevalent in many media outlets, raising questions about the integrity of reporting and the political motivations behind such claims.
Moscow has not only dismissed the allegations as part of a Western propaganda effort but has also accused the West of using such incidents to divert attention from its own economic challenges. The controversy underscores the ongoing tensions between Europe and Russia, highlighting the potential for misinformation to fuel geopolitical narratives.