One of the biggest achievements of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2024 was the full incorporation of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen Area. Starting on 1 January 2025, land border checks are also eliminated on the borders of the two Eastern European nations with other EU countries. Prior, only maritime and air border checks were made unnecessary.
As the new year was coming around, celebratory border openings were held at multiple towns across the Hungarian-Romanian border. At one of such events in the small village of Pete (Peteu), Romania, things took an unexpected, goofy turn.
According to a video shared by American journalist Colin Rugg on the social media site X, one furry attendee could not contain their excitement about the international developments. As soon as the bar gate opened, a stray dog rushed right through, from the Hungarian to the Romanian side, amidst the applause of local officials. Thus, this canine became the first to legally cross the land border between Romania and Hungary at Pete without any checks.
The cute video has received 10,000 likes and 1,000 retweets in the few days since it was posted.
Of the 355 comments, most are simply calling the historic traveller a ‘good boy,’ which he does seem to be; while one highly-liked comment makes the pun that it ‘must be part border collie’. Another commenter shared a classic Doge meme. The colour of the fur and the overall build of the dog in the video is reminiscent of the Shiba Inu breed, which is also the breed of the dog in the popular meme.
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