CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government will introduce legislation to prevent Russia building a new embassy near Parliament House on security grounds.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the legislation to be presented to Parliament on Thursday would extinguish Russia’s lease on the proposed site based on the advice of security agencies.
“We’re dealing with this very specifically and it’s based upon very specific advice as well about the nature of the construction that’s proposed for this site, about the location of this site, and about the capability that would present in terms of potential interference with activity that occurs in this Parliament House,” Albanese told reporters.
The government decided to act after Russia won a Federal Court case last month that prevented its eviction from the site which is under construction.
The lease was canceled by local Canberra authorities on the basis of a lack of building activity.
Russia currently occupies the former USSR embassy which is further from Parliament House than the new site.
The Associated Press
