Bomb threats target Irish media outlets, similar threats hit flights across Europe

Bomb threats have targeted several of Ireland's top media organisations. The threats come just days before a meeting of the European Political Community in Dublin. An Irish government official said the threats are almost certainly linked to next week's summit.

On Friday morning, newsrooms at national broadcaster RTE, Virgin Media TV, the Irish Independent newspaper and Newstalk radio received identically worded emails claiming bombs had been left inside their offices.

Three of the newsrooms were evacuated, disrupting RTE and Newstalk programmes. Virgin staff, however, kept broadcasts running. Police confirmed they found no suspicious devices.

The Irish official said they had expected a rise in hybrid threats to Ireland because of its hosting of the EU presidency, and that the European Political Community meeting will be by far the biggest set-piece event of that presidency, so it must be presumed it is no coincidence that this spike in hybrid activity is being experienced now.

The Irish government said the threats against media outlets were probably part of a European-wide pattern of threats that have targeted dozens of airlines this week, including Irish carriers Ryanair and Aer Lingus. Hackers also targeted supermarket refrigeration systems in at least seven European countries.

In a statement the government said it is not yet known who is responsible for these threats, whether individuals or a centralised or coordinated effort. However, these threats come on the heels of ongoing disruption to aviation around Europe caused by similar threats, and it seems likely this is a coordinated campaign of disruption.

Bomb threats also targeted at least 18 European flights on Friday, after at least 22 the day before, raising concerns that the hoaxes may be part of a coordinated campaign to disrupt air traffic.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told Spanish public broadcaster TVE on Friday that the bomb threats affecting flights could be an attempt at hybrid aggression and war in some psychological way, adding that it cannot be a coincidence that so many identical events occur with the same modus operandi throughout Europe. Luis Gallego, chief executive of airline group IAG, said it is clear the perpetrators are looking to create chaos and disruption at different airports.

Hungary's Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said fighter jets were scrambled in Hungary on Friday in response to bomb threats involving three civilian passenger aircraft. Prague Airport said nine flights were targeted by bomb threats on Friday alone, France reported another four threats against aircraft flying over its territory that day, and the Bulgarian government said two flights bound for Sofia were targeted on Friday.

Paul Reuter, an airline captain and vice president of the European Cockpit Association, said no threat should be underestimated, and that no matter how remote the real possibility after a call that there is a bomb on board, they will treat it as if there is a bomb on board.

The Irish official said the sudden increase in anonymous disruptions to airlines, supermarkets and now news outlets appeared to be timed to increase tensions ahead of Dublin's hosting next Thursday of the European Political Community summit. Created in 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the forum brings together the leaders of 47 countries and representatives of several bodies, including NATO, to discuss strategic issues. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is also attending.

The Irish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to identify Russia as the likely culprit. But he noted that EU partners, including Denmark, which faced a similar wave of so-called hybrid attacks in the run-up to its own 2025 hosting of the summit, had drawn such links in the past. Irish police Superintendent Liam Geraghty told reporters the event posed an even tougher security challenge than hosting a US presidential visit, and that a policing and security operation of this scale has never been seen before in Ireland.