Paris (France) (AFP) - Europe witnessed a series of false bomb reports on Friday, following dozens of similar reports this week, targeting commercial flights and media institutions, which required the action of security forces.

Published on: 06/11/2026 - 14:55

Explosive alerts targeted 11 flights coming from or heading to Prague and Sofia.

Four new reports were also issued about the presence of bombs on board planes flying over French territory. These planes landed “safely,” while explosive removal teams conducted “security inspections” on them, according to what the Prime Minister’s Office announced.

A Ryanair flight, heading from Lisbon to Rome on Friday morning, was subjected to a "bomb threat" that later turned out to be false, according to Portuguese authorities.

After similar false alarms over the weekend, at least 20 flights were hit with bomb threats Thursday. In all these cases, no explosives were found.

NATO commented on the incidents, saying that it "continues to monitor the situation and coordinate closely with allies."

The media sector was also targeted on Friday in Ireland, where the headquarters of several media organizations, including broadcaster RTE, were evacuated after receiving warnings of the presence of bombs.

"Multi-method" attacks?

The Irish government said in a statement: “These threats come in the wake of ongoing disruptions to air traffic across Europe, caused by similar threats, and it seems likely that this is a coordinated campaign.”

This series of false alarms, the source of which is difficult to determine, aims, according to experts, to mobilize the security services and spread fear, at no cost to those who carried them out.

Without pre-empting the identification of the perpetrators, Jean-Marc Riclé, Director of the Department of Global and Emerging Risks at the Geneva Policy Centre, indicated in a statement to Agence France-Presse that “the matter should be viewed in the context of multi-means operations against European countries.”

He added, "It does not cost anything to the person who did it, but it carries major repercussions on the logistical level, and of course on the population's perception. The authorities cannot ignore these warnings. If one of them comes true on the ground, they will be held responsible."

The ambiguity surrounding the identity of those who issued these warnings makes finding ways to address them more difficult.

A statement of adoption arrived Thursday at Rome and Sofia airports, issued by “fighters of the male state.” This name appears to refer to a Russian extremist nationalist movement, but it has not been possible to verify an actual connection to it.

The Europeans have repeatedly accused Russia and Iran of carrying out operations aimed at destabilizing their territories, whether the operations represented disinformation campaigns, acts of sabotage, or cyber attacks.

“Avoid overreacting.”

A European security source points out that “in recent years, cases of medium-level confrontation have emerged, falling below the threshold of armed conflict, in which countries have engaged in carrying out hostile and destabilizing acts against other countries,” and this is sometimes done through proxy parties.

In this context, he referred to "cyber attacks, information manipulation operations, acts of intimidation, or even exploitation of migrant flows."

In the midst of these developments, London Police Chief Mark Rowley called for maintaining calm.

“We've been through this before,” Rowley said in a statement Friday on BBC Radio 4. “When we faced terrorist threats linked to the Irish Republican Army decades ago, we used the term ‘tenpenny terrorism,’ as a hoax phone call about a bomb could paralyze an entire city. We have had to learn to live with this situation, distinguishing between what is just a hoax and the real threat.”

He added, "In light of this new threat environment, and with the presence of malicious actors around the world, who sometimes receive directives from hostile countries, we will have to adapt to this method, to avoid overreacting to every message we receive online."

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© 2026 AFP

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