Security: Bomb threats against aircraft across Europe

Paris. Bomb threats forced several passenger planes to make unscheduled landings in Europe on Thursday morning. Flight EI402 from Dublin to Rome was diverted for safety reasons and landed safely at Evreux airport, 100 kilometers west of Paris, Irish airline Aer Lingus said. According to Belgian media reports, a plane forced to land at Brussels' Zaventem Airport was one of the Polish airline LOT. A Finnair plane from Helsinki was escorted by the Italian Air Force to its scheduled landing in Rome, according to an insider. According to Bulgarian officials, three planes also had to make an emergency landing due to bomb threats.

Planes from Copenhagen and Madrid landed in Sofia, the Interior Minister said, according to a report by the broadcaster bTV. A third plane from London touched down in Plovdiv, according to local media reports. These are the latest incidents in a series of threats against air transport in Europe.

Bomb threats were received on at least seven flights and a cruise ship on Tuesday. This caused disruption at airports across Europe, although no explosive devices were discovered. So far, no state has blamed any particular party for the threats.

But they come at a time when European officials are accusing both Russia and Iran of hybrid attacks and acts of sabotage. Moscow and Tehran deny such campaigns. This week, unknown hackers also switched off cooling systems in supermarkets in several European countries. Fake bomb threats could be part of a similar pattern of low-cost and credible disruptive actions, according to some experts.