EU will punish Russia for GPS signal jamming

The EU is ready to impose sanctions against Russia for malicious activity in outer space, including GPS navigation failures provoked by the aggressor country.

The European Union's top diplomat Kaia Kallas said this at an event in Brussels on Wednesday, January 29, AFP reports.

The top EU diplomat stated that the European Union is already experiencing hybrid attacks, in particular in space due to «systematic jamming of satellite signals navigation».

«There are risks to our satellites, ground infrastructure and space industry from kinetic, electronic and high-energy weapons. Espionage is a constant threat», – she added.

As an example, Kallas, a former Estonian prime minister, cited the Russian launch of an anti-satellite missile and a cyberattack on a space system on the eve of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

According to her, the EU should improve monitoring and identification of those responsible for Russia's malicious activities in space, and could also extend the mutual defense clause to outer space.

Kallas suggested that in response to such actions by Moscow, the European Union could impose sanctions similar to those already applied to Russian intelligence officers for cyberattacks.

«We need to think about how best we can apply this to space», – she added.