Bomb threat hoaxes disrupt flights and newsrooms across Europe
The threats have forced emergency landings, evacuations and security sweeps, though no explosives have been found.
PRAGUE · A series of unfounded bomb threats has caused significant disruption to European air travel and media operations over the past week. The hoaxes, which began targeting flights on Tuesday, escalated to include dozens of planes and several news broadcasters by Friday. No explosives have been discovered in any of the incidents, but the coordinated nature of the threats has raised alarms among security officials. Authorities across multiple nations are investigating but have not yet identified a source for the campaign.
The initial wave of threats on Tuesday forced at least seven flights and a cruise ship to make emergency landings or receive fighter jet escorts. Airports in Poland, Bulgaria, Italy and Spain were among those temporarily closed. A much larger second wave followed on Thursday, impacting at least 27 flights. On Friday, Prague's Vaclav Havel Airport reported nine threatened flights, involving arrivals from Denmark, Spain and Britain and departures to several other European destinations.
The disruption spread beyond aviation on Friday when news organizations received emailed threats. Messages from a sender calling themselves "Mikhail Andropov" were sent to Bulgaria's Nova TV and Ireland's public broadcaster RTE. The emails, titled "Message to the West," claimed responsibility for the flight disruptions and hinted at further attacks on transport. RTE evacuated its headquarters and suspended live programming, while Sky News in Britain also reported receiving a security threat. Police searches of the evacuated buildings found no suspicious devices.
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An Irish government official, speaking anonymously to POLITICO, linked the media threats directly to the upcoming European Political Community summit in Dublin. The official stated that a rise in hybrid threats was anticipated due to Ireland's hosting duties. The Irish government released a statement saying the incidents appeared to be "a coordinated campaign of disruption" following similar aviation threats. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares suggested the flight threats could be "an attempt at hybrid aggression and war in some psychological way," noting the identical methods used across the continent.
Aviation and security experts emphasized that every threat must be treated as credible. Eric Schouten of security group Dyami explained that a full security sweep requires unloading all passengers and baggage, searching the aircraft, and reloading, a process that can lead to crew duty limits being exceeded and subsequent cancellations. Paul Reuter, vice-president of the European Cockpit Association, said that while threats create tension, crews are trained to respond professionally. He condemned the use of civil aviation for such hoaxes as "totally unacceptable."
Officials have not publicly blamed any specific group or country for the hoaxes. The incidents occur amid broader European accusations of Russian "hybrid" or "grey zone" attacks, which are designed to be deniable and disruptive. Nations like Denmark, Poland and Romania have previously pointed fingers at Moscow for similar disruptions, allegations Russia denies. An email threat received by Italian airports on Thursday claimed to be from "fighters of the Male State," a banned Russian far-right movement, though its founder denied any involvement.
European Union officials acknowledged the ongoing challenge of hybrid operations. Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen told Reuters that Europe faces constant attacks aimed at destabilizing societies. "The reason behind these operations is to destabilize our societies and create mistrust among our citizens," she said. Despite the scale of the threats, Eurocontrol reported minimal overall disruption to air traffic, with only a tiny fraction of Thursday's flights affected. EU Transportation Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas announced that security experts will meet in Brussels next week to formulate a response, prioritizing passenger safety and smooth operations.
With files from Radio-Canada, CBC News and NPR