Because of the potential for espionage, Australia has prevented Russia from constructing a new embassy near its parliament.
After several judicial challenges to the development in Canberra were unsuccessful, legislation specifically intended to halt construction was swiftly passed on Thursday.
According to statements made by the Kremlin, this was “yet another unfriendly action” that Russia will “take into account” in the future.
According to Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian government, Australia is participating in the “Russophobic hysteria that is now going on in the countries of the collective West.”
Earlier, a Russian official disclosed that the embassy was obtaining legal counsel.
The new statute recognizes that Russia may be eligible to receive monetary compensation if certain conditions are met.
A piece of land purchased in 2008 and leased out to Moscow is located around 400 meters (0.25 miles) from the Australian Parliament Building in Canberra.
Although progress on the construction of the new embassy building has been gradual, the foundations for the building have been laid.
As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, ties between Australia and Russia deteriorated, and as a result, Australia took steps to revoke approval for the construction of the new structure.
The federal court rejected the last effort to revoke the lease a month ago, which prompted the new legislation to be introduced.
The House of Representatives submitted and approved the laws in a time that was significantly less than five minutes.
“We don’t expect Russia to be in a position to talk about international law, given their rejection of it so consistently and so brazenly with their invasion of Ukraine,” said Mr. Albanese, who criticized Russia’s “illegal and immoral” invasion of Ukraine. “We don’t expect Russia to be in a position to talk about international law,”
According to a statement made by Alex Bristow, a former UK ambassador who now works for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Russia possesses some of the “largest, most capable, most aggressive, and least constrained intelligence services” in the world.
“Given the proximity, it could be some form of electronic surveillance operating out of the embassy,” he added. “Given the proximity, it could be something.”
Australia stands in solidarity with the rest of the international community in its condemnation of Russia’s unprovoked, unlawful, and immoral war on the people of Ukraine. The invasion constitutes a flagrant breach of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations. The sovereignty as well as territorial integrity of Ukraine has Australia’s full and unwavering support. We are demanding that Russia immediately pull its military out of Ukrainian territory. Together with our other allies, Australia has been working to provide assistance for Ukraine and hold Russia accountable for the acts it has taken. The successful response to Russia’s invasion was built on the foundation of international solidarity.
In 1807, the Russian naval cruiser Neva arrived in Sydney, marking the beginning of diplomatic relations between Russia and Australia. In the year 1857, consular connections were established, and in the year 1942, formal diplomatic relations were established. The Australian Embassy in Moscow was founded in 1943, and the country also maintains consulates in Vladivostok and St. Petersburg. The Russian Federation maintains consular representation in a number of Australian cities, including Adelaide, Brisbane, and Melbourne in addition to its Embassy in Canberra. According to results of 2021 Census, there are approximately 98,000 people living in Australia who claim to have Russian ancestry.
