Russian diplomat squats near Australia parliament in embassy lease row
A Russian diplomat has been squatting near Australia’s parliament in a row over the site where Russia wants to build its new embassy.
The lone protest follows Australia’s decision last week to tear up the lease – granted in 2008 – citing national security grounds.
Russia says it will challenge the move in the High Court.
Australia’s prime minister says the diplomat was no threat – he was “some bloke standing… on a bit of grass”.
When announcing new laws aimed at terminating the lease, Anthony Albanese said intelligence agencies had given “very clear security advice”.
The planned embassy would sit only 400m (0.25 miles) from parliament, which experts have said poses a spying risk.
Russia’s existing embassy is some distance away.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has described the Australian decision as another example of “Russophobic hysteria that is now going on in the countries of the collective West”.
It is unclear on what “constitutional grounds” Russia will challenge the laws, but it has sought an injunction to defer any moves to reclaim the site until the legal challenge is decided.
In the complaint submitted to the court, Russia says it has already spent A$8.2m (£4.3m, $5.5m) on construction, which has proceeded slowly.
Meanwhile federal police are reportedly monitoring the man staking out the block of land, local media say, but cannot arrest him due to his diplomatic immunity.
Mr Albanese said he was not worried about the squatter, or the legal challenge.
“Russia hasn’t been real good at the law lately,” he said.
“We don’t expect Russia is in a position to talk about international law given their rejection of it so consistently and so brazenly with their invasion of Ukraine.” (BBC)
