Algeria has severed diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates after tensions between the two countries boiled over. Algiers on Thursday accused Abu Dhabi of a series of “provocative and hostile” actions, adding that it had exhausted attempts to preserve relations. In an apparent response, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said diplomatic relations should be based on “rationality” rather than “riddles”. The rupture in relations comes amid differences between the two states over Israel, Western Sahara and alleged UAE influence in North Africa and the Sahel.
Moreover, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has repeatedly accused the UAE of interfering in Algerian and regional affairs. Here is what you need to know: “Algeria has decided to cut diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, following the exhaustion of all means to preserve bilateral relations,” state television announced. Algeria’s Foreign Ministry accused the UAE of “provocative and hostile acts”, without providing details. “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 said. UAE Ambassador Yousef Saif Khamis Subaa Al-Ali was summoned, informed of the decision to cut diplomatic ties and given 48 hours to comply.
Algeria also announced that it had decided to close its airspace to all UAE-registered aircraft starting Friday, with the exception of UAE commercial flights to and from Algiers, which are exempt until the end of the year. Algeria had already signalled its frustration with the UAE in February when it began the process of cancelling a 2013 air services agreement between the two countries. Shortly after Algeria announced the decision to sever ties, Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, wrote on social media that diplomatic relations should be based on “rationality, communication and clarity of interests” rather than “riddles and signals that require decoding”. Gargash did not explicitly mention Algeria or directly link his comments to Algiers’ announcement. “For ambiguity is not a policy, and noise does not compensate for the absence of vision; successful diplomacy is built on clarity of positions, sound management of interests and differences,” he added. “And anything beyond that is merely an expression of a deficiency in vision and management.” The UAE Foreign Ministry said it hoped the decision would be “temporary”, saying it “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”.
Tebboune has rarely directly criticised the UAE by name, but observers say that his critical statements have clearly been directed at the Gulf state. He has referred in speeches to a “micro-state” or “statelet” that he said was seeking to destabilise countries including Libya, Mali and Sudan, where the UAE has been accused of involvement in conflicts. The UAE has denied the allegations. In a televised interview in July, Tebboune said the unnamed state had a “very negative impact” in the region, adding that “wherever they set foot, blood flows”. “We want them to stay away, so that blood does not flow in our country,” he added.
At the time, Tebboune said Algeria could have broken diplomatic relations with the state much earlier but had refrained because it did not want to deepen regional divisions. Algeria opposes normalisation with Israel, while the UAE established diplomatic relations with Israel through the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020 and has since developed economic, diplomatic and defence ties with Israel. Another fundamental disagreement is their position on Western Sahara. The UAE backs Morocco’s claim over the disputed territory, while Algeria supports the Polisario Front’s efforts to establish an independent Western Sahara.
The tensions with Algeria are not the UAE’s only recent regional tussle. In January, Somalia cancelled all agreements with the UAE covering areas including ports, security and defence, accusing Abu Dhabi of actions undermining Somalia’s sovereignty, national unity and political independence. The tensions were linked in part to the UAE’s extensive ties with the breakaway region of Somaliland. Sudan has meanwhile repeatedly accused the UAE of supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in its civil war, an allegation Abu Dhabi denies.
In May, Sudan also accused the UAE of supplying drones it said were used in attacks launched from Ethiopia. Relations between the UAE and Saudi Arabia have also become strained. Tensions have escalated in Yemen, where Saudi forces in December struck what Riyadh described as a UAE-linked weapons shipment to the separatist Southern Transitional Council, while Saudi Arabia backed demands for Emirati forces to leave Yemen.
