JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The European Union is blasting Russia for allegedly interfering with the navigation system of a plane carrying the European Commission president yesterday. She was visiting countries on the bloc's eastern flank. Teri Schultz reports it's just the latest act of sabotage on European targets that's been attributed to Moscow.
TERI SCHULTZ, BYLINE: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's plane had to circle for an extra hour before it could deposit her and her team safely in the Bulgarian capital. With its GPS system jammed, journalists on board the flight said the pilots had to pull out paper maps to make the landing at Plovdiv Airport in Sofia. Almost 24 hours after the incident, Bulgaria pointed a finger at the Kremlin, accusing it of being responsible. European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta condemned the act as part of the threats and intimidations that have become, quote, "a regular component of Russia's hostile behavior."
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ARIANNA PODESTA: This incident actually underlines the urgency of the mission that the president is carrying out in the front-line member states these days. There she has seen firsthand the everyday challenges of threats coming from Russia and its proxies.
SCHULTZ: Moscow has not publicly responded to these allegations, but Podesta says, if Russian actors are to blame and thought Europeans would be intimidated by the dangerous stunt, they're wrong.
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PODESTA: This will only reinforce even further our unshakable commitment to ramp up defense capabilities and support for Ukraine. And of course, the EU will continue to invest into defense spending and in Europe's readiness even more after this incident.
SCHULTZ: It may also be a wake-up call for those Europeans who doubt the threat Russia can pose to everyday life, says Vessela Tcherneva, the deputy director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, based in Sofia. Tcherneva says despite a growing number of small attacks of sabotage throughout Europe linked to Russia, public opinion in some countries is still divided about how to respond and the need to protect their societies.
VESSELA TCHERNEVA: I hope in the end, it's going to produce a new policy that is going to contribute to the resilience of the countries, especially those here around the front line. And I'm not talking about - simply about GPS jamming, you know, but about the plethora of possibilities for hybrid attacks that can really undermine citizens' security.
SCHULTZ: But even as Russia is being blamed for staging the jamming attack, Tcherneva says there may be domestic repercussions as well. Opposition politicians are calling for the head of Bulgaria's national intelligence agency to resign for failing to stop Sunday's incident.
For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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