Coordinated Wave of Hoax Bomb Threats Targets European Airlines and Broadcasters

Coordinated bomb hoaxes targeted news organizations and commercial passenger flights across Europe on Friday, triggering military jet scrambles, route diversions, and building evacuations.

Irish national broadcaster RTE evacuated its Dublin headquarters after receiving an email titled "A Message to the West," sent under the pseudonym Mikhail Andropov. Identical threats targeted British broadcaster Sky News and Bulgarian television network Nova TV, demanding European governments halt assistance to Ukraine. Aviation authorities faced widespread disruptions throughout the week, with at least 35 aircraft targeted across Ireland, France, Denmark, Italy, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic.

In Prague, Czech police investigated threats against nine passenger aircraft, leading to the diversion of a Venice-bound flight while Hungarian and NATO fighter jets escorted planes through regional airspace. The French military scrambled fighter jets on Tuesday to intercept an Aer Lingus flight traveling from Dublin to Rome, redirecting the 157 passengers to a military base in Normandy.

Bulgarian authorities scrambled jets on Thursday to intercept three Ryanair flights, diverting one to Plovdiv, while Italian Eurofighters escorted a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome. Investigators confirmed that all searched planes and newsrooms yielded no explosives or injuries. European air traffic agencies reported that overall network operations continued with minimal disruption despite the hoaxes.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares described the operations as hybrid aggression and psychological warfare. European security officials are scheduled to convene in Brussels next week to formulate responses to coordinated hoax campaigns.