Since becoming Greece’s top dog in April, Peanut has visited with a number of visiting European leaders.
The golden-haired former stray chose to make a louder entrance on Thursday, temporarily disrupting a press conference between the prime leaders of Greece and Slovakia.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mistotakis declared support for the countries’ Balkan neighbors’ attempts to join the European Union, then paused for a time while Peanut, the prime minister’s official dog, barked loudly a few meters away.
Mitsotakis turned to Slovakia’s Eduard Heger, who smiled as he heard via an interpreter, and added, “That is the dog we recently adopted who is often quite lively.”
According to Mitsotakis, “This is the first time he has intervened during a press conference. Usually, he just greets guests at the door and is more polite.”
After visiting animal care workers on World Stray Animals Day in April, he adopted Peanut. The dog has been observed exploring the rooms of the official house, known as Maximos Mansion, with a blue bandana over his collar.
Mitsotakis’ administration has been at the forefront of measures to combat animal abuse.
Last year, Parliament decided to make animal cruelty punishable by up to ten years in jail. Last Monday, lawmakers authorized proposals to build a nationwide pet registry using DNA samples from unsterilized cats and dogs.
Calypso, a stray cat rescued on the island of Karpathos, was adopted by Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, a former senior judge, last year.
For social media posts, the two have been photographed together.