Italy could decide to hide the routes of official flights to reduce security risks, sources in the Ministry of Defense told The Guardian.

The measure is being discussed after the plane carrying Ursula von der Leyen to Plovdiv, Bulgaria lost its satellite navigation signal on Sunday and was forced to wait almost an hour before landing.

The incident, which European officials blame on"jamming" and "spoofing" tactics used by Russia, has reignited the EU-wide debate on the security of leaders' flights.

According to experts, these forms of electronic warfare intensified after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and have increased sharply in the past year.

Italy is now considering measures to limit information published on the government website about official air travel and block access to air traffic monitoring apps to the routes of planes carrying the prime minister and ministers. The proposal was already mentioned a few months ago by Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, in the context of the increase in the number of interference detected near the Russian borders.

Similar interference has affected commercial and official aircraft flights in Finland, Estonia and the UK in recent years. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Tuesday that it was taking the incidents"very seriously" and was working continuously to prevent them from happening again.