Algiers: Algeria has severed diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), accusing Abu Dhabi of increasingly “provocative or hostile” actions and saying it had exhausted all means of preserving bilateral ties.
The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the decision followed repeated warnings to the UAE and efforts to address what it described as unacceptable conduct. The ministry did not specify the individual actions that led to the rupture.
Algeria said it had exercised restraint and repeatedly warned the Emirati side of the “grave consequences” of its conduct. Despite those warnings, the ministry said the UAE had continued actions that could no longer be considered acceptable or tolerable between two sovereign states.
The UAE ambassador was received at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Algiers on Thursday and formally informed of the decision. He was given 48 hours to comply, according to the ministry.
UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash appeared to respond to the decision in a post on X, saying diplomatic relations should be based on reason, communication and clarity of interests.
Gargash said successful diplomacy required clear positions and effective management of interests and differences. He did not explicitly name Algeria in his post.
Years of strained Algeria-UAE relations
The diplomatic rupture follows years of worsening relations between Algiers and Abu Dhabi, with the two countries increasingly divided over regional affairs.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said last year that Algeria’s relations with all Gulf states were warm except one, in an apparent reference to the UAE. He described ties with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar as “brotherly”, while accusing the unnamed country of interfering in Algeria’s internal affairs and seeking to destabilise it.
In July, Tebboune directly criticised the UAE, describing it as a “micro-state” or “statelet” and accusing it of contributing to instability in Libya, Mali and Sudan. He said the UAE had had a “very negative impact” in the region and that Algeria wanted it to stay away.
Tebboune also said a diplomatic break could have happened earlier had Algeria not sought to avoid deepening divisions in the Arab world.
In February, Algeria began procedures to terminate an air services agreement with the UAE signed in Abu Dhabi in May 2013.
Relations were also strained last year after Algerian state television criticised what it described as a hostile media campaign following an interview on UAE-based Sky News Arabia with historian Mohamed Amine Belghit. He made controversial remarks questioning the existence of Algeria’s indigenous Amazigh culture and was later jailed before being pardoned by Tebboune.
The two countries have also taken opposing positions on several regional issues, including Israel and Western Sahara. Algeria opposes normalisation with Israel, while the UAE established diplomatic relations with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020.
Algeria backs the Polisario Front in the Western Sahara dispute, while the UAE supports Morocco’s claim to sovereignty over the territory. Their interests have also increasingly intersected in the Sahel.
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