40 percent of European civil flights are operated in areas affected by jamming and deflection of satellite navigation signals, European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius told MEPs in the European Parliament in Strasbourg today, BTA reported.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, these cases have increased and pose a great danger, he added during debates dedicated to the dangers to aviation and shipping from the loss of signals from the GPS system.
The European Commissioner noted that the loss of signal affects all countries in Eastern Europe - those bordering Ukraine and those on the shores of the Black Sea. He expressed gratitude to the pilots of the flight of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Plovdiv on August 31. According to him, the plane lost satellite communication an hour after taking off from Poland and after heading towards our country. Kubilius noted that he was also on board this flight.
Hybrid threats are becoming normal, but we will not accept them as normal. Satellite navigation has long been a driver for the economy. Its signals are not protected from jamming, the European Commissioner pointed out. He called for a coordinated pan-European response plan and announced that starting next year, the EC is preparing to monitor the radio frequency spectrum to detect and identify jamming attempts.
Kubilius added that the European satellite system "Galileo" will have additional measures to counter jamming. According to him, additional backup guidance systems are being developed to overcome the consequences of satellite jamming in aviation.
In subsequent statements by the political families, the European People's Party group noted that GPS is part of the defense system and that the solution in this case can only be European. According to the Socialists and Democrats, cases of jamming are multiplying and this is a Russian hybrid war against Europe. We must take the threat seriously and counteract it, this political force insisted.
The European Conservatives and Reformists said that Russia was crossing red lines. The "Renew Europe" group pointed out that aviation is the backbone of the economy, therefore action is needed against this "attempted mass murder of Europeans". Let's show Russia that we will not tolerate this hybrid war, this parliamentary group called.
The Greens said that the incident in Plovdiv is not isolated and that in many similar cases we are talking about Russian actions used as weapons in hybrid warfare. The Left Group insisted on a faster European response.
MEP Emil Radev (EPP/GERB) pointed out that the number of GPS jammings in Bulgaria is constantly growing, with data indicating an avalanche-like increase since the start of the war in Ukraine. Radev specified that in 2021 one such case was identified, in 2022 - 183 cases, in 2023 - 199, last year - 312, and since the beginning of this year there are already 128, including with Von der Leyen's flight.
Some of the Russian systems for jamming and disrupting signals are deployed on the Crimean peninsula, he explained. The Black Sea region is particularly vulnerable. Europe cannot afford to be paralyzed in the event of an attack, Radev insisted.