Finland’s national airline Finnair has paused its flights to fellow-NATO member Estonia because of GPS (global position system) disturbances in the region, which have been blamed on Russia.
Finnair said two flights last week had to return to Helsinki after GPS interference prevented their approach to Tartu in Estonia and announced on Monday a one-month suspension of flights to the city.
“Russia affects GPS devices in our region’s airspace,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said, adding that Tallinn was working with Finnair to restore air traffic, Reuters reported.
Karoliina Ainge, a former head of Estonian cybersecurity, posted on X that “hybrid warfare against Estonia—a NATO member for 20 years—is getting worse.”
ADRIAN DENNIS/Getty Images
Finland recently joined NATO after decades of neutrality, which Russia reacted angrily to.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there has been a spike in disturbances to GPS, which is used by pilots, with interference reported near Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea coast, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.
This is a developing story and will be updated with further information.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.