On Thursday, September 4, the Bulgarian government made a sharp U-turn in its stance on alleged Russian interference in the flight of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen—an incident that earlier European reports claimed had forced her plane to land “blind” due to a supposed GPS signal loss.

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told parliament there had been no disruption to von der Leyen’s flight. Instead, he said, there was only partial interference with the signal — a common type of jamming that often occurs in densely populated areas.

“After checking the aircraft’s recordings, we saw no indication of concern from the pilot. The plane circled in holding for five minutes, with the signal quality remaining good the entire time,” Zhelyazkov assured lawmakers.

Just days earlier, the prime minister had attributed the disturbance to electronic warfare connected to the war in Ukraine — a claim that now seems to have been retracted.

Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Grozdan Karadjov also dismissed the notion of deliberate GPS tampering. In an interview with Bulgarian broadcaster bTV, he noted that empirical data, radio-tracking information, and records from both civilian and military services provided no evidence that GPS jamming was responsible for the signal disruption affecting the aircraft.

The government’s shift leaves the European narrative of a dangerous interference episode facing fresh questions — and highlights just how politically charged the debate over electronic warfare and air safety has become.