The dog of the president of Moldova, Maya Sandu, bit her Austrian colleague Alexander van der Bellen on the arm during his visit to Chisinau, writes POLITICO.
The incident, which was filmed by the media, happened when Sandu and Van der Bellen were walking around the courtyard of the presidential palace in the Moldovan capital.
Sandu brought his dog, named Kodrutz, for a photo with Van der Bellen and Slovenian President Natasha Pirc Musar, who was also present at the meeting.
At a given moment Van der Belen reached out to pet Codrutz, but the dog lunged at him and bit his right arm. Sandu apologized and explained that Kodrutz was overworked.
“That’s a lot of people,” she said. Van der Bellen was later photographed with his arm bandaged.
Sandu adopted Kodrutz, a stray dog, in early 2023 after he was hit by a car and lost his leg.
“Kodrutz has been part of our team at the presidency for about 7 months now, after he was found on the street, hit by a car. Unfortunately, we were unable to save his paw, but after a few months of treatment, he is now running happily on 3 legs,” she wrote on Instagram.
Van der Bellen and Mussar were in Chisinau to discuss Moldova’s bid to join the EU. In June, the country received candidate status along with Ukraine.
“I am delighted to welcome Presidents Van der Bellen of Austria and Mussar of Slovenia to Chisinau today,” Sandu wrote to X. “Our discussions highlighted strong support for Moldova’s path to the EU, marking an important moment in our journey towards European accession.”
Sandu allows Moldova to enter the EU in two steps
By territorial division
