Elena Yoncheva – a liberal lawmaker who has extensive experience as a war reporter – asked the Commission president to “confirm” that there was “no safety problem” on the flight from Warsaw to the central Bulgarian city on 31 August.
“You know that this false information has dealt a serious blow to the image of Bulgaria,” Yoncheva said during yesterday’s annual State of the Union debate, referring to reports of Russian “interference” first published by the Financial Times, whose reporter was on the plane with von der Leyen.
“So far, you have not commented, Yoncheva said. “For ten days, the name of Bulgaria has been associated with this so-called news.”
“In this complex geopolitical situation, any misinformation can lead to dangerous consequences and reactions,” Yoncheva went on.
Gheorghe Piperea, a far-right Romanian MEP, went further, claiming that the “lie” surrounding the flight shows that von der Leyen was “no longer credible as president”.
In her closing remarks, von der Leyen claimed that she had heard MEPs “loud and clear” – but refused to elaborate on the GPS story.
The remarks come after the Financial Times’ debunked 1 September report that a “suspected Russian interference attack targeting” von der Leyen had “disabled GPS navigation services” at Plovdiv airport, forcing the plane to circle the runway “for an hour” before landing using “paper maps”.
So far, neither the newspaper, nor the Commission has been able to substantiate the claim of GPS jamming.
What is clear, according to flight data and recordings of conversations between Bulgarian flight control and von der Leyen’s pilots, is that the plane used standard back-up electronic systems, and not maps, to land. What’s more, there is no evidence to support the FT’s assertion that the plane circled the airport for an hour before landing
The claims of Russian interference made headlines around the world but have been treated with deep suspicion by aviation experts. Data compiled by Flightradar24, a flight-tracking service, found that the flight only lasted nine minutes longer than scheduled.
Spokespeople for the European Commission have refused to disclose the flight time or the FT’s claim that the pilots used paper maps to land the plane. They have also refused to confirm that von der Leyen herself was specifically targeted.
However, the EU executive has maintained that the plane experienced interference – a claim also supported by Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.
A spokesperson for the FT told Euractiv that the newspaper “stands by” its reporting.
Ian Petchenik, director of communications at Flightradar24, told Euractiv that he has seen “no evidence of jamming” of any kind on von der Leyen’s flight, while adding that it was still possible there was some kind of interference.
Petchenik also said the “initial reporting was less than helpful” in drawing attention to the very real dangers posed by GPS jamming.
