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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Russia accused Australia of “Russophobic hysteria” for canceling the lease on the land where Moscow wanted to build its new embassy, which the Australian government judged to be a security risk because it was too close to Parliament House.
Parliament passed emergency legislation blocking the lease Thursday after Russia won a Federal Court appeal last month against local Canberra authorities’ decision to do the same.
The Russian Embassy responded on Friday by posting on social media a Russian news agency TASS report of Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s condemnation of Australia’s actions.
“Australia, having canceled the lease agreement for the site for the construction of the new Russian Embassy building, diligently continues to move forward in the main stream of the authors of the Russophobic hysteria and tries to distinguish itself on this path,” Peskov is quoted as saying.
“Another unfriendly display from Australia. We will take this into account and if there are issues on the agenda that require the principle of reciprocity, we will act accordingly,” Preskov said.
The Russian Embassy is quoted as describing the lease termination as “another step by (Prime Minister) Anthony Albanese towards a deliberate and systematic destruction of relations with Moscow.”
Albanese explained the urgency as a need to prevent the site becoming a "formal diplomatic presence.”
Lawmakers cited threats of espionage and political interference if Russia’s second embassy was built in the Yarralumla diplomatic precinct so close to Parliament House.
Russia currently occupies the former USSR embassy in the suburb of Griffith, farther from Parliament House than the new site. The Yarralumla site would have provided Russia with a second cluster of diplomatic buildings in the national capital Canberra.
Australian intelligence agencies now rate espionage and foreign interference as the nation's greatest security challenges.
In February, a newspaper reported that Australia had quietly expelled a large Russian spy ring whose members were posing as diplomats.
The spy ring comprised purported embassy and consular staff as well as other operatives using deep-cover identities, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the operation.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the nation’s main domestic spy agency, revealed days earlier it had “detected and disrupted a major spy network.” ASIO has not named the country responsible.
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Find more of AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific