Recent news was full of reports on a rather satirical event concerning the aircraft carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
According to the rather tight-lipped initial statements, the airplane lost its GPS guidance en route to Bulgaria. In no time, the pilots had to make a difficult decision: either return to Brussels like a beaten dog, or to abandon electronic navigation and rely on old-school, paper-based charts to land safely.
As the circumstances of the incident became more clear, Bulgarian officials – backed by EU spokespeople – admitted that it was no mere glitch: GPS signals were being jammed, and Russian interference is the main suspect behind the brazen act.
Eventually, the plane landed safely (great applause to the well-trained pilots), but the incident highlights a glaring gap in Europe’s high-tech defense readiness.
After three years of war and endless declarations of “strategic autonomy,” the Commission was blind to a classic electronic warfare trick.
It’s nothing short of ironic that the EU – which has just unveiled an €800 billion defense mobilization plan – saw its cutting-edge equipment stymied by a simple jammer.
EU member states spent about €326 billion on defense in 2024, and Brussels is pitching massive new borrowing for air defenses, missiles and drones.
Yet with all that firepower earmarked, one Russian signal made Europe fall back to a paper map.
The public spin has been strong – “this will reinforce our unshakable commitment to ramp up defense capabilities” said one Commission spokesperson – but the real takeaway is brutal: Europe touts huge plans while failing the basics.
Europe’s leaders have long proclaimed that “we are in an era of rearmament” and warned that a belligerent Russia “can only be kept in check through strong deterrence.” Yet when push came to a shove (or when Russia pushed a button), the Commission’s show of strength turned into a commando exercise in navigation: Bring a map next time, just in case.
And it’s not that the Russians have recently installed some groundbreaking new technology.
Satellite navigation jamming and spoofing have been part of Russia’s hybrid warfare toolbox across Eastern Europe for a while now. Experts point out that GPS disruptions have “increased significantly” in the Baltics and EU border states in recent years.
In other words, Brussels knew this danger was out there, but apparently assumed it would only affect civilians or Ukrainian troops, not EU VIPs.
Maybe the EU should take a hint (if it couldn’t so far) and based on the experience gained with the EU Solidarity Fund, it should announce the launch of a new pillar of strategic autonomy: The European Survival Fund (ESF).
The official communique could maybe sound like this, “A cutting-edge initiative that will prepare Europe’s future generations for the challenges of electronic warfare by returning to the previously most advanced technology known to mankind: sticks, stones, and compasses.”
Keep in mind, then, that the ESF should fund (among others) Map Reading 1.01 (all children to learn to orient themselves with physical maps, compasses, and—if necessary—the moss on trees), Young Leaders Campfire Program (how to light a campfire with flint, or at least with two overpriced defense-contracts rubbed together due to lack of other sophisticated equipment) and Intro to Analog Communication (how to use carrier pigeons, smoke signals and other non-electronic means of communication in case of a Russian attack).
This way, if Russia attacks and the Americans refuse to rush to their aid (because they are still too angry at their fellow NATO members for failing to meet their defense expenditure requirements), the EU can at least answer in its own way. With bonfires and whistles.
Irony aside, the issue is just as serious as it is tragic.
At a time when the EU Commission is loudly backing Kyiv’s dreams and refuses to accept a peace proposal, and is supposedly pumping up defense spending, this little episode is a sobering reminder that grand intentions and reality don’t always match and the tiny details matter just as much as futuristic equipment.
After touting an €800 billion armament plan and decades of strategic independence talk, the Commission discovered that its own region remains vulnerable to a basic electronic prank.
Russia’s “Halloween lights” jammer routine won’t scare Europe – but it did manage to force the President of the European Commission to rely on an 18th-century navigation method.
Thus, Europe marches forward: billions for futuristic weapons, but a compass and firestarter kit for every child is the European reality.
