The locomotive of the train with Moldovan officials broke down on the way to the European track

The locomotive of the train, in which the Moldovan government delegation and diplomats from Romania were heading to the opening of the renovated section of the Moldovan railway, converted to European gauge, has failed. This was announced on April 22 by the Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development of the Republic Vladimir Bolya.

According to him, the incident happened while the delegation was traveling to the opening of the section, which was converted to the European standard railway gauge.

"We are still in Falciu, the locomotive has broken down. This is a very good sign. The road is European, built according to all new requirements, which means that we need to replace the locomotives so that they are also European, and then we will be confident in them," Bolya wrote on his Facebook page (banned in Russia, owned by Meta Corporation, recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation).

The Moldovan authorities consider the transition to the European standard gauge (1435 mm instead of the 1520 mm used in the CIS) as a key element of integration into the transport network of the European Union. The new Cantemir—Falciu section should provide direct rail links to Romania.

Moldova is withdrawing from the CIS. What you need to know

On April 8, Moldovan President Maia Sandu signed decrees denouncing the founding agreements with the CIS countries. As a result, she terminated two agreements — on the establishment of the CIS and its protocol, as well as on the charter of the Commonwealth.

On March 3, CIS Secretary General Sergei Lebedev announced that Moldova was withdrawing from the CIS while maintaining 208 agreements. According to him, the state will no longer be able to participate in the closed agreements of the Commonwealth, and its participation in other agreements will be complicated.