BRUSSELS — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is slated to visit Bulgaria and Romania next week, following a series of drone attacks on Black Sea vessels that have heightened security tensions along NATO’s eastern flank.

According to three European Commission officials familiar with the plans, von der Leyen is expected to travel to both countries before attending the COP climate summit in Turkey. “It’s now the deadliest shipping route in the world,” said one of the officials, who was granted anonymity to speak about security-related plans.

At least seven commercial vessels were reportedly struck by drones in the Black Sea last month, leaving two sailors dead and at least 25 missing. The attacks, which Romania blames on Russia, have brought the violence of the war in Ukraine dangerously close to NATO territory.

Romania has warned that the strikes are part of Moscow’s escalating aggression against Ukraine, while Bulgaria has stopped short of formally blaming Moscow, referring instead to drones coming from “an eastern direction.”

The security concerns reached Bulgaria’s shores Friday, when a local resident discovered a drone washed up near the coastal town of Shabla. The aerial vehicle appeared to have been carried ashore by the sea, said the municipality’s mayor, Mariyan Zhechev. The drone’s origin and whether it was connected to the recent attacks on commercial shipping have not been established.

It is unclear whether von der Leyen will be accompanied by anyone else such as European Council President António Costa or EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. In Bucharest on Monday she will meet with Romanian President Nicușor Dan and Prime Minister Luca Niculescu. On Tuesday, she will meet Bulgarian Prime Minsiter Rumen Radev in Varna and visit the Nikola Vapsarov Naval Academy.

The plans come as NATO allies step up surveillance over the Black Sea following the attacks on commercial shipping. Italian, British and American reconnaissance aircraft were spotted conducting simultaneous missions over the region Tuesday, according to Bulgarian broadcaster bTV, while France has extended the deployment of a maritime patrol aircraft in Romania.

The deteriorating security situation is also prompting diplomatic efforts to protect commercial shipping. Speaking at Saturday’s G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said India and Turkey had put forward proposals to help grain-carrying vessels navigate the Black Sea safely amid the continuing Russia-Ukraine war.

This article has been updated with details of Ursula von der Leyen’s itinerary in Romania and Bulgaria.

The U.S. government has scuttled a French push for the G7 to coordinate on advanced AI safety, with a White House official calling it “unnecessary bureaucracy.”

France’s digital minister Anne Le Hénanff told a French Senate hearing on Wednesday that she held two ministerial meetings in September and October to secure G7 commitments to a high-level working group to test frontier AI — the most advanced models — and share information about risks and incidents.

That effort “did not reach a successful conclusion” because the U.S. wanted to pursue its own approach, the French minister said.

“They are not prepared, at this stage, to issue a joint statement with the other six G7 nations, and have asked us to wait for the findings of their own assessment,” said Le Hénanff. “Naturally, we regret this, but we are continuing to move forward as Europeans on this issue.”

A White House official, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said that the French government proposed a “poorly defined body” to cooperate on AI that the administration feared would “create unnecessary bureaucracy.” 

The official pointed to U.S. President Donald Trump’s Super Intelligence Force, saying it brings government and industry together to accelerate innovation and ensure the safe deployment of models.

France, which holds the rotating presidency of the G7 for 2026, issued a chair’s summary statement after the Oct. 20 virtual G7 tech ministerial, which noted that ministers considered closer coordination on identifying risks and sharing incident information, as well as a dedicated high-level group. It was not a joint statement endorsed by all G7 members.

Le Hénanff has proposed resuming talks in December.

SI acceleration

Trump began promoting “super intelligence” as a replacement for “artificial intelligence” at the U.N. General Assembly in late September. A week later, he ordered federal agencies to use the new term.

G7 ministers in May agreed to discuss secure AI and risk assessment, which was followed by the G7 leaders meeting the following month in Évian.

But the stakes have risen as advanced AI systems gain unprecedented cyber capabilities that can be used for both attack and defense. In July, Hugging Face disclosed an intrusion driven by an autonomous AI agent. OpenAI later said models used in an internal cybersecurity test had bypassed controls and compromised parts of its own research infrastructure and Hugging Face’s systems.

Le Hénanff said France would keep pushing the issue, citing INESIA, France’s national AI evaluation and safety institute, and Inria, its public research institute for digital science and technology, as resources for the work.

The White House official said: “Under President Trump’s leadership, America will continue to lead the world in SI innovation.”

France’s blood collection service confirmed that its refrigerators were hit by cyberattacks at the same time as supermarket fridges across the EU — though blood supplies were not affected.

The French Blood Establishment said Tuesday that monitoring and control systems for cold storage rooms deployed at three of its sites were affected, with temperature and defrosting thresholds raised to “very high levels.”

It was not the direct target of the cyberattacks and no blood samples or products were compromised, the EFS said. 

The incident appears linked to a fresh wave of cyberattacks on supermarket refrigerators across Europe, which forced stores to throw out spoiled food. That wave came just weeks after French supermarkets were first hit by a cyberattack that also hit refrigerators.

French media reports said refrigeration company Coolworld is the supplier to EFS. The company said in a statement that it’s aware of the incident and that it “concerns a component supplied by a third-party provider and not directly controlled by Coolworld.” It said only a “limited number” of its units were affected.

In the attacks on supermarkets, refrigerator defrost settings were manipulated so the coolers reached very high temperatures, mirroring the EFS’s experiences. The blood stored in the affected equipment, which included plasma bags for transfusions, has been “transferred or secured,” the EFS said.

French digital minister Anne Le Hénanff said in the country’s Senate today that the recent attacks on the country’s refrigerators “have directly targeted our economy and our supply chain.”

“I would even go so far as to say that, beyond that, their objective may potentially be to undermine the unity of our country and to create anxiety among the population,” she said.

Emile Marzolf contributed to this report.

BRUSSELS — The European Commission will assess how well supermarkets are prepared to handle cyberattacks after refrigerators in dozens of stores across at least six EU countries were taken offline.

EU Agriculture and Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen told POLITICO that the attacks would be discussed at the next meeting of its Security College to assess retailers’ contingency plans and their ability to respond to incidents.

“Europe’s food supply chain must be prepared for new and evolving threats,” Hansen said. “The repeated cyberattacks on supermarkets are deeply concerning, causing economic losses for retailers and empty shelves for consumers.”

The announcement follows dozens of supermarkets across Europe reporting disruptions to their refrigeration and freezing systems on Monday.

Incidents were reported in at least six EU countries — Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands and Estonia — with some retailers reporting that refrigerator temperatures had suddenly surged to as high as 50 degrees Celsius.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen set up the Commission’s Security College in March 2025 to discuss strategic developments and threats to the EU’s internal and external security.

The Security College format lets commissioners examine attacks beyond their immediate impact on retailers. It also places the disruptions in the broader context of Europe’s vulnerability to hybrid warfare, where attacks on essential supply chains can be used to undermine public confidence.

The Security College meets periodically, separately from the Commission’s regular weekly meetings. On Friday, the Security College discussed the timing of its next meeting, but no date has been set, although heads of cabinet attending the planning meeting agreed it should take place soon, according to an EU official granted anonymity to discuss the behind-closed-door gathering.

The Security College is chaired by von der Leyen and attended by all her commissioners.

The latest disruptions follow a series of cyberattacks in France in October, when hackers appeared to remotely manipulate refrigeration systems by activating their defrosting mechanisms, causing temperatures to rise sharply and food to spoil.

In October, Commission agriculture officials met retailers affected by cyberattacks to take stock of the situation as part of the EU’s food security contingency and preparedness efforts. “We must work at every level to strengthen our preparedness and resilience,” Hansen said.

The commissioner stressed that Europe’s food security is not at risk, but warned that these incidents exposed vulnerabilities in the food supply chain, with consequences for businesses, food waste and consumer confidence.

“These are a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain and undermine consumers’ confidence in it — a warning that we must take seriously,” Hansen said.

BRUSSELS — Refrigerators in dozens of supermarkets in at least five EU countries were out of service on Monday, local news outlets reported, in what appears to be a repeat of cyberattacks that hit French stores last month.

As of Monday afternoon, there were news reports of incidents affecting supermarkets in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands and Estonia. 

Several store managers told local media that refrigerator temperatures suddenly spiked to up to 50 degrees Celsius. This mirrors the French incidents last month, in which attackers appeared to remotely manipulate the fridges’ defrosting mechanisms so that they overheated.

It’s not confirmed that the attacks are connected or used the same software vulnerabilities that hit French chains, though one supermarket spokesperson said the incident is a cyberattack “similar to the one in France.”

Ken Munro, a cybersecurity researcher, said in an interview that supermarkets should have disconnected their refrigerators and the devices used to monitor and remotely manage them from the Internet. “I don’t accept any other excuse … particularly in light of the earlier [attacks in France],” he said.

Inti De Ceukelaire, another cyber researcher, also said the incident suggests supermarkets did not take the necessary steps even after the France attacks. “It seems that some of them simply did not get patched, which is quite ridiculous,” he said.

Belgian media reported on Monday morning that temperatures in supermarket refrigerators had suddenly spiked, forcing them to throw food away. A spokesperson for the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium said the agency is “closely” following the incident, adding that the attackers are unknown and that it “may never be possible to identify them.”

John Billow, director of Sweden’s National Cyber Security Centre, told POLITICO that there are “similarities” to the French incidents and that the agency is in touch with affected organizations. A European Commission spokesperson said it’s aware of the incidents and is using the EU-Cyclone network to coordinate and share information.

Following France

French supermarkets were hit with a wave of similar incidents in mid-October, when attackers targeted refrigerators by Danfoss, a Danish manufacturer of store fridges. Danfoss did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The attacks in France triggered a response from the country’s prime minister and its cybersecurity agency.

Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize alerted its store managers early on Monday morning of problems with refrigerators, and Belgian broadcaster RTBF cited a store manager as saying that the problems were due to a cyberattack like those in France.

A spokesperson for the company said it is aware of an “IT incident affecting the refrigeration systems in a number of Delhaize stores.” A spokesperson for Colruyt, which operates Spar stores in Belgium, said in a statement that fridges in “around five” Spar stores have been affected. “We are currently doing everything we can to resolve the issue,” they said, adding that no Colruyt stores have been affected. 

A Carrefour spokesperson confirmed that 15 of its 700 stores have been affected, and that none of its larger “hypermarket” stores are among them. All stores remain open, they said.

Stores in Sweden have also been hit. A spokesperson for supermarket chain ICA confirmed an “incident overnight affecting a small number of ICA stores operating outside ICA’s central network” which affected its fridges and freezers. 

A Coop spokesperson said seven of its 800 stores were affected but the situation, which is “contained and under control.” In one case, a refrigeration system began to generate heat, they said. Last month in France, the attacks caused at least one fire.

Like the public authorities, cyber researchers are looking for signs of who may be responsible. The fact that the attacks have happened again is evidence to suggest a hostile nation could be behind the attacks rather than young hacker pranksters, De Ceukelaire said. Munro, however, said he believes a “copycat” is behind Monday’s attacks.

“This won’t be the end of it,” Munro added. “There will be more.”

This article has been updated.

MONTREAL — Prime Minister Mark Carney is positioning Ottawa’s C$1.6 billion investment in Canadian artificial intelligence company Cohere as a downpayment on his country’s national security. 

“We’re not waiting for the future of AI to be decided somewhere else by those we don’t know or … don’t trust,” Carney said Thursday in Montreal ahead of the start of the Canada-EU summit.

Carney framed the upcoming congress, which includes meetings Friday with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa, as a shared endeavor to build a stronger transatlantic alliance in the face of global disruption.

“Sovereignty now requires secure access to semiconductors, critical minerals, payment systems, clean energy technology, vaccines, space-based communications and artificial intelligence,” Carney said. “Canada is taking a major step forward in artificial intelligence.”

In a pre-summit speech earlier Thursday in Montreal, von der Leyen cited April’s multi-billion dollar merger between Cohere and German counterpart Aleph Alpha as a key piece of the deepening Canada-EU cooperation that is set to unfold at Friday’s talks on AI.

“Both Canada and Europe believe this technology should serve people. So we will work together to tackle head-on the safety and security issues of runaway AI. We will develop together rules and standards and strong global governance,” she said.

Carney said Canada was making a commercial investment alongside private investors including Nvidia, Bell and Germany’s Schwarz Group.

Cohere co-founder and CEO Aidan Gomez announced the initial close of its Series E funding round on Thursday, which is targeting up to C$7 billion at a C$35.7 billion valuation.

Gomez joined Carney at Mila, the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, for the Canadian portion of the funding announcement. 

“We believe that artificial intelligence would become one of the defining technologies of this century, and that Canadians should help build it, shape it and benefit from it,” Gomez said, standing next to the Canadian leader. 

The Canada-EU summit is unfolding against the backdrop of economic threats by U.S. President Donald Trump against both transatlantic partners.

Carney dismissed suggestions Thursday that the summit could draw reprisals by Trump against the participants. “This is a process which we’re doing absolutely in the interest of the Canadians, but ultimately the U.S. will see that,” he said.

LONDON — Britain’s intelligence agency GCHQ cannot account for the whereabouts of thousands of storage devices which could contain sensitive material, according to an official watchdog.

A report by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPCO) — which polices how Britain’s intelligence agencies use their spying powers — on Thursday found that a significant number of devices including USB sticks, hard drives and memory cards are unaccounted for.

Brian Leveson, the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, said that GCHQ “still cannot tell me what has happened to removable media that may hold sensitive data, years after I first raised it with them.”

He noted that the devices “may contain IPA-related data” — which has a high level of sensitivity.

IPA-related data refers to information collected or held under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. That could include intercepted communications such as emails, texts and telephone calls, as well as information extracted from people’s computers or phones.

The report added that GCHQ currently estimates the number of devices “to be in the thousands” and is currently undergoing work so it can report how many of the devices have been confirmed as lost.

“We remain very concerned about this issue and are disappointed with the time it has taken GCHQ to investigate,” the report notes.

Last year IPCO disclosed that GCHQ and fellow intelligence agency MI5 had been unable to locate considerable numbers of storage devices, some of which potentially containing information classified as “TOP SECRET.”

A GCHQ spokesperson said: “As IPCO have reported, our management system for removable media was previously not sufficiently robust to effectively track the items that were registered for use. IPCO are right to note the flaws in the data the system produced, and we have taken action against all their recommendations.

“We recognise the importance of security of removable media in our systems, and have a range of measures to mitigate the risks posed by these items. The findings in the report have been addressed comprehensively and all necessary steps to correct this issue have been taken.”