NATO strengthens response to hybrid and cyber threats following GPS jamming of von der Leyen’s plane
Photo: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (Getty Images)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated in Luxembourg that the Alliance takes the GPS jamming incident during European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's flight very seriously and is already strengthening its response, The Guardian reports.
At a press conference in Luxembourg, Rutte commented on the suspicion of Russian GPS jamming that affected the plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
According to him, the Alliance views such actions as "very serious" and is already "stepping up (its response - ed.) when it comes to bybrid, cyber."
He recalled a number of recent incidents in Europe.
"Jamming commercial aeroplanes with potentially disastrous effects, an assassination attempt on a big industrialist in one of Nato allied countries, attacking the national health service in the United Kingdom. These are not cuddly, small incidents. These are huge incidents which have a huge impact," Rutte said.
He also highlighted Russia’s latest missile technologies, which pose an unprecedented risk to the European continent. He noted that a Russian missile would need only 5–10 minutes to reach The Hague or Madrid.
Incident involving the European Commission President’s plane
On August 31, in Bulgaria, the plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made an emergency landing. It is suspected that Russian interference caused the GPS navigation systems to fail. After circling the airport for an hour, the pilot decided to land manually using paper maps.
Later, European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta confirmed that Ursula von der Leyen’s plane had experienced "GPS jamming."
Meanwhile, the Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia allegedly had no involvement in the malfunction of the EC President’s plane navigation systems.
