Bomb threats spread to European newsrooms amid passenger flight scare wave

Newsrooms in Ireland, Bulgaria and the United Kingdom have reported bomb threats linked in the messages to a wider wave of hoax alerts disrupting passenger flights across Europe. In Ireland, staff at the national broadcaster were evacuated after receiving a threat, while Bulgaria's Nova TV and the British broadcaster Sky also said they had been targeted. The messages were sent on Friday local time and referred to a broader campaign of attacks on transport across Europe.

The emails were reportedly signed by a person calling themselves "Mikhail Andropov" and carried the heading "Message to the West". The wording portrayed the threats as the start of a series of attacks on means of transport across Europe. The identity of the sender has not been established, and it is not clear whether the newsroom threats came from the same source as the flight-related hoaxes.

No explosive devices have been found in connection with the newsroom threats or the flight scares, and all planes mentioned in the wider wave of incidents have landed safely. The reports come after airlines and airports in Italy received threatening emails on Thursday local time, and after several flights across Europe were disrupted earlier in the week. Around half a dozen flights were affected on Tuesday and more than two dozen on Thursday, with some aircraft making unplanned landings or being escorted by fighter jets.

The incidents matter because they have spread beyond aviation into the media sector, creating a broader security concern across multiple countries. Spain's foreign minister has described the pattern as "hybrid aggression" and a form of psychological warfare, reflecting concern that the threats are intended to unsettle public confidence rather than cause direct physical harm. The timing is also sensitive for Ireland, which is due to host a high-profile European Union meeting on Russia-Ukraine relations next week.

The wider wave has already prompted responses from aviation and security authorities in several countries. On Friday, jets escorted airliners flying from Brussels to Sofia and from Prague to Bucharest and Cyprus through Hungarian airspace because of bomb threats, according to Hungary's defence minister. The same day, armed police in Australia met a flight in Sydney after threats were sent to the airport, showing the disruption has extended beyond Europe.

What remains unclear is whether the newsroom threats and the flight scares are linked, and whether the same person or group is behind all of them. The origin of the emails has not been verified, and no one has publicly confirmed responsibility. The immediate focus is on tracing the sender, assessing whether any further threats follow, and determining whether the pattern represents coordinated hoax activity across borders.

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