Algeria severs diplomatic ties with UAE, citing its ‘provocative or hostile’ actions

Algeria said on Thursday it had decided to sever diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates after what it described as a series of “provocative or hostile” actions by Abu Dhabi despite “repeated warnings.”

The foreign ministry said the UAE’s actions had reached a point where they could no longer be considered acceptable or tolerable and that it had “exhausted all means of preserving bilateral relations.”

The UAE ambassador was summoned to the ministry, informed of the decision and given 48 hours to comply, the foreign ministry said.

“Algeria spared no effort to draw the Emirati side’s attention to, and to warn it against, the dire consequences that could result from its regrettable and unjustified conduct,” the ministry added.

Algeria also announced that it would close it airspace to UAE-registered civilian and military aircraft, except for commercial flights to and from Algiers airport, which would continue until the end of 2026.

The UAE hoped Algeria’s decision to cut diplomatic ties would be temporary, its foreign ministry said in a statement later in the day, adding that Abu Dhabi remained committed to preserving ties between the two countries’ peoples and shared interests.

“The ministry of foreign affairs affirms the UAE’s appreciation for the brotherly Algerian people and its pride in the bonds that unite the two peoples, particularly through the Algerian community residing in the UAE and Algerian visitors,” the ministry said.

Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said on X that diplomatic relations should be based on “rationality, communication and clarity of interests,” rather than “riddles and signals that require decoding.”

Gargash, who did not explicitly mention Algeria or link his comments to its decision, said successful diplomacy depended on clear positions and the effective management of interests and disagreements.

Relations between the two countries have come under growing strain in recent years, with Algerian media outlets sharply criticizing the UAE and accusing it of seeking to sow regional discord.

Algiers and Abu Dhabi have also taken differing positions on several regional issues. Algeria opposes normalization with Israel, while the UAE and Algeria’s regional rival Morocco established diplomatic ties with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020.

The two countries are also on opposing sides of the decades-old Western Sahara dispute. The UAE supports Morocco’s claim to sovereignty over the territory where it has a consulate, while Algeria backs the Polisario Front, which seeks an independent Western Sahara.

The two countries’ interests have increasingly intersected in the Sahel, where the UAE has expanded ties with several governments in recent years, while Algeria’s relations with some of its southern neighbors have become strained following a series of military coups.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid said last year his country’s relations with all Gulf states were warm except for one — a thinly veiled reference to the UAE, which he has described as a “micro-state” or “statelet” seeking to destabilize several countries in the region.

He described ties with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar as “brotherly,” while accusing the unnamed country of meddling in Algeria’s internal affairs and seeking to destabilize it.

“Wherever they set foot, blood flows,” Tebboune said in a televised interview in July, adding that the UAE has had a “very negative impact.”

“We want them to stay away, so that blood does not flow in our country,” he added.

At that time, Tebboune said a diplomatic break “would have happened long ago” had Algeria not sought to avoid “deepening divisions” in the Arab world

In February, Algeria began the process of canceling an air services agreement with the UAE that was signed in Abu Dhabi in May 2013.