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One of the European Union's top officials was temporarily blocked from landing in Bulgaria over the weekend. Bulgarian authorities say Russia was jamming her plane's GPS equipment. Teri Schultz reports from Brussels that this interference is a long-standing problem.
TERI SCHULTZ, BYLINE: The fact that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's plane had to circle for an hour on Sunday before pilots landed in Bulgaria using paper maps takes alleged Russian aviation meddling to a new level. Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen says 13 EU member governments appealed to the EU Commission in June to come up with a way to stop Russian GPS interference.
ANNA-KAISA ITKONEN: They drew our attention to this issue, which is something that is becoming almost a daily practice. It has serious impacts on maritime and aviation, so we are taking action on this.
SCHULTZ: Vessela Tcherneva of the European Council on Foreign Relations says tougher measures are necessary.
VESSELA TCHERNEVA: Russia has the capability to interfere in our air traffic, in our controlling systems, in critical infrastructure as ports, hospitals and so on and so forth. So this is why this whole line of the defense in cyber is extremely difficult.
SCHULTZ: Moscow denies it had anything to do with the GPS interference. While he was in office, former Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis pushed hard for a stronger EU response to hybrid attacks like this. He notes the GPS incident comes just a week after the EU's diplomatic representation in Kyiv was severely damaged in a Russian air attack.
GABRIELIUS LANDSBERGIS: Russians are getting bolder. The GPS jamming and an attack on EU representation in Kyiv show that EU strategy, hiding from Russia behind Ukrainian or American backs, is no longer viable.
SCHULTZ: Landsbergis says if Europe doesn't stand up to such targeted attacks, they will only get worse.
For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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