13 Countries Urge EU Commission to Act on Russian and Belarusian Satellite Navigation Interference
13 EU countries are calling on the European Commission to take urgent action on the disruption of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) in the bloc caused by Russia and Belarus, the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport said.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to LRT.
As stated in a letter sent by the countries to the European Commission, GNSS signal disruptions are not random incidents, but systematic, repeated, and deliberate actions by the Russian and Belarusian regimes aimed at destabilizing the region's infrastructure, especially in the transport sector.
The transport ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, Slovakia, Finland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, and Romania are calling on the EU to use all possible political, diplomatic, and legal measures to increase international pressure on the Russian and Belarusian regimes. In particular, they propose imposing sanctions against individuals and organizations involved in deliberately jamming GNSS signals.
The letter also proposes considering the possibility of strengthening radio frequency monitoring, expanding coordination mechanisms between EU and NATO countries for joint monitoring, data exchange, and possible response to navigation jamming.
In addition, the countries call for accelerating the implementation of more interference-resistant GNSS solutions, as well as updating and modernizing existing navigation infrastructure.
The appeal, initiated by Lithuania, was sent to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, the European Commissioner for Defense and Space, Andrius Kubilius, the European Commissioner for Transport, Apostolos Tsitsikostas, and other members of the European Commission.
The ministers of transport and telecommunications of the above-mentioned EU countries emphasize that since 2022, cases of jamming and spoofing of GNSS signals have been increasingly recorded in the airspace of the Baltic Sea, posing a threat to various modes of transport, especially civil aviation and maritime navigation.
According to Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications E. Sabutis, the current security situation requires a joint and decisive response to hybrid threats from unfriendly regimes.
"Satellite interference has a significant impact on strategically important sectors – transport, energy, and telecommunications. To prevent possible incidents, we must act immediately and with a united front at the EU level,” he said.
As The Gaze reported earlier, in 2024, foreign ministers of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia warned that disruptions to GPS in the Baltic region, for which Russia is blamed, could lead to aviation catastrophes. This became evident when two Finnair planes flying from Helsinki to Tartu had to turn back midway due to GPS issues.