What GNSS is
GNSS, or Global Navigation Satellite Systems, is the umbrella term for systems that use satellite signals to determine position and precise time. GPS is the US system in that family; Europe's Galileo, Russia's GLONASS, and China's BeiDou are others. In everyday use, “GPS interference” can therefore refer to satellite navigation more broadly, not only GPS.
Jamming and spoofing are different
With jamming, a receiver loses the satellite signal or cannot receive it reliably. With spoofing, it receives false navigation data and may treat them as genuine. The distinction matters: a device can usually recognize a lost signal, while a false location or time can look like ordinary data.
Why this became important
On July 21, 2026, BIRN published an investigation that drew on the specialist platforms GPSJam and GPSWise, documents, and witness accounts to describe more than 25 GNSS-interference episodes over Serbia. It reported that on May 23 about ten drones at a Slavija protest received a false position near Nikola Tesla Airport and were grounded. BIRN also cited pilots' reports of incorrect navigation data. These are findings of journalistic reporting, not an official list of incidents or responsible parties.
Current status and responsibility
As of July 23, 2026, there is no public official finding on the origin of every episode described by BIRN. According to the investigation, RATEL received complaints but did not register harmful interference in several cited cases, including May 23. RATEL says officially that it monitors the radio spectrum throughout Serbia, identifies illegal emissions and harmful interference, and takes legal measures to remove them. BIRN requested pilots' reports from SMATSA and the Civil Aviation Directorate; the newsroom says those institutions did not provide the requested reports.
Why it matters and what remains open
Satellite navigation is used not only by drones and phone maps, but also by aviation, transport, telecommunications, and systems that need accurate location or time. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, EASA, separately treats jamming and spoofing as a risk to aviation navigation and surveillance. Serbia's key open question is whether verifiable measurement results and assessments of individual complaints will be published: without them, the source, scale, and responsibility for each episode cannot be established reliably.