Australia blocks construction of new Russian embassy over spying fears

Diplomatic tensions between Canberra and Moscow. Australia took radical legal measures on Thursday, June 15 to prevent Russia from building its new embassy close to its Parliament, after warnings from the intelligence services against a risk of espionage. The Kremlin immediately reacted by denouncing a “show of hostility” who will call for an answer “reciprocal” from Moscow.

“To our great regret, Australia continues to move forward with force in the wake of the authors of the Russophobic hysteria which is currently raging in the countries of the West”Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Australia aims for excellence within these countries”, he quipped.

Russia has been leasing a plot of land near Parliament in Canberra to an agency of the Australian federal government since 2008. In 2011, it obtained a permit to build its new embassy there. In August 2022, the government had tried to terminate the lease for non-compliance with certain clauses of the building permit, but this decision was canceled by federal justice last May.

The Australian government on Thursday passed new laws specifically designed to block construction. These new laws, passed with the support of the opposition, do not prevent Russia from having a diplomatic presence in Australia, but only from building so close to Parliament.