Fake bomb alerts hit European schools and planes; France probes foreign links

Italian, British and Irish schools were hit first

Thousands of Italian schools received fake bomb-threat emails on Wednesday 11 November. La Razón reports that about 6,300 of Italy's nearly 7,500 schools were affected, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni convened a security cabinet, describing the campaign as a strategy meant to spread panic. Schools in Northern Ireland and Scotland received similar threatening emails, roughly 300 establishments according to La Razón, and press reports say several Scottish schools were evacuated. In Ireland the number of affected schools was not specified, and police reportedly did not treat the threats seriously or order any evacuations.

Three French schools and aircraft affected

On Thursday 12 November the French Education Ministry said three schools had received bomb threats that morning, all proven false, and the schools were evacuated. Local media placed them in Marseille, the Jura and Laon in the Aisne. Separately, dozens of commercial flights across Europe have received bomb alerts since early November, leading to diversions, fighter escorts, evacuations and searches, although no explosive has been found. On Thursday 12 November an Aer Lingus aircraft was diverted to Évreux after an alert. On Friday 13 November, the office of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu reported four new alerts on planes over French territory. Three of those aircraft landed at Orly and one at Bordeaux without incident, according to a source close to the file.

Officials point toward possible foreign interference

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told LCI on Friday 13 November that the alerts appear coordinated and that foreign interference is a real possibility. He said the alerts come in waves, most of them false, and that authorities still take each one very seriously.

“Russia, possibly other countries, that want to destabilise us, that run campaigns, can be behind these manoeuvres.”

Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday 12 November, at a summit of European leaders in Dublin, that it was too early to assign responsibility for the calls.

“At this moment, we do not have sufficiently established evidence to make an attribution.”

Investigations and open questions

The Paris prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the alerts against aircraft flying over France. It is trying to identify who sent the emails spreading the false information and whether they had links to foreign powers, the prosecutor's office told AFP. The Irish government said on Friday 13 November that the calls looked like a probable coordinated campaign meant to cause disruption. A claim sent on Thursday 12 November to the airports of Rome and Sofia was signed 'male state fighters', a name that seemed to point to a Russian ultranationalist movement, whose leader denied any involvement. Investigators are working with Europol, and intelligence services are exchanging large amounts of information to trace the origin of the calls. European officials have for months accused Russia or Iran of destabilisation campaigns involving disinformation, sabotage, cyberattacks and attacks.