A plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been hit by radar jamming over Bulgaria in a suspected Russian operation, an EU spokesperson says.
The Financial Times first reported that the GPS navigation system of the plane was disabled externally, forcing a landing at the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv using paper maps.
The newspaper cited three officials familiar with the incident that happened on Sunday.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
EU Commission spokesperson Arianna Podestà said the GPS system of the plane to Bulgaria was jammed.
Jamming refers to a GPS receiver being targeted with stronger, unknown radio signals, which "degrades" its functionalities, according to live air traffic website FlightRadar24.
It can, however, happen both accidentally or due to a deliberate attempt by illegal external devices.
"We can indeed confirm that there was GPS jamming," Ms Podestà said.
"We have received information from the Bulgarian authority that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia."
Jamming occurs day after Putin labelled 'predator'
Ms von der Leyen's plane landed safely at the planned location and she will continue her tour of the EU's nations bordering Russia and its ally Belarus, the Associated Press reported.
The EU president is a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Ms Podestà said Ms von der Leyen had seen "firsthand the everyday challenges of threats coming from Russia and its proxies".
Visiting the town of Ozierany Male on the Polish-Belarusian border on Sunday, the EU president called her Russian counterpart a "predator" who needed to be "kept in check through strong deterrence".
"We have to keep the sense of urgency because we know that Putin has and will not change," Ms von der Leyen said.
Bulgaria issued a statement saying that "the satellite signal used for the aircraft's GPS navigation was disrupted".
"As the aircraft approached Plovdiv Airport, the GPS signal was lost," it said.
ABC/wires
