What Is the GPS Jamming That Disrupted EU Commission President’s Flight?

After a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suffered a GPS navigation outage on its approach to Plovdiv in Bulgaria on Aug. 31, authorities in the country said the signal had likely been jammed by Russia.

Reports of GPS interference have proliferated since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, especially in eastern Europe. Last year, a plane carrying then-UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps faced a similar situation when it flew over Poland near the Russian territory of Kaliningrad.