Key Points
- RTÉ and other media organizations in Ireland and Britain received bomb threats Friday, prompting evacuations and police searches.
- Bulgaria’s Nova TV and British broadcaster Sky also reported receiving security threats.
- The threats followed a series of similar incidents affecting dozens of passenger flights across Europe earlier in the week.
Television broadcasters and news organizations across Europe were disrupted by a wave of bomb threats issued over e-mail on Friday, one day after numerous flights were disrupted over similar criminal threats.
Ireland’s public broadcaster RTÉ evacuated employees from its Donnybrook headquarters in Dublin after receiving a threatening email Friday morning. Police searched the premises before determining the location was safe, the national broadcaster said.
Other Irish media organizations, including Newstalk and the Irish Independent, also evacuated employees following similar threats. Bulgaria’s Nova TV received a threatening email, while British broadcaster Sky separately confirmed receiving a security threat.
Messages sent to RTÉ and Nova TV purportedly came from an individual identifying himself as “Mikhail Andropov,” according to a report from Reuters. The emails claimed responsibility for a series of bomb threats involving passenger aircraft and warned of additional attacks against transportation infrastructure.
RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst said the broadcaster decided to evacuate its facilities as a precaution to protect employees. The broadcaster activated contingency arrangements while police investigated the threat.
“On the basis of the information we had, we decided that we wanted to put the safety of the staff first and evacuate the buildings,” Bakhurst said.
The identity of the sender and the origin of the messages have not been established. Police have also not confirmed whether the threats against news organizations and aircraft originated from the same individual or group.
In a news bulletin Friday, a RTÉ correspondent said Irish police are working with other law enforcement agencies to determine the person or group responsible for the threats. A source familiar with the investigation told The Desk that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is also committing resources to “monitoring the situation in Europe” and providing assistance to police there, but there is “no evidence right now” that an American person or group is responsible for the hoaxes.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said police, military personnel, cybersecurity specialists and aviation officials were working with European counterparts to identify those responsible. He acknowledged that the evidence collected so far has not pointed to any particular person, group or country connected to the threats.
“We will go after this to identify who is responsible and to hold them accountable,” Martin said.
The incidents followed several days of disruptions at European airports: More than two dozen flights were affected by bomb threats Thursday, with some aircraft diverted to alternate airports and others escorted by military fighter jets.
Additional threats Friday prompted fighter jet escorts for passenger aircraft traveling through Hungarian airspace, while police in the Czech Republic investigated threats involving nine flights. Similar alerts were reported in France, Denmark and Italy. No explosive devices have been discovered in connection with the incidents, and the affected aircraft landed safely without further incident.
The incidents come ahead of major European political meetings scheduled in Ireland next week, which are expected to involve heightened security measures.
