Algeria has severed diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), citing a series of actions by Abu Dhabi that it described as “provocative or hostile”.
The Algerian Foreign Ministry announced the decision on Thursday but did not disclose a specific reason, saying the UAE’s actions had reached a point that could no longer be accepted or tolerated.
The ministry said Algeria had “exhausted all means of preserving bilateral relations” before deciding to cut diplomatic ties.
The UAE, however, expressed hope that the decision would be temporary, saying it remained committed to maintaining ties between the two countries’ peoples and safeguarding their shared interests.
The UAE Foreign Ministry said it valued the “brotherly Algerian people” and the bonds between the two populations, particularly through the Algerian community living in the UAE and Algerian visitors.
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”.
Although he did not explicitly mention Algeria, Gargash said successful diplomacy depended on clear positions and effective management of interests and disagreements.
Following the announcement, Algeria will close its airspace to all UAE-registered civilian and military aircraft from Friday, Ennahar TV reported, citing the Algerian Defence Ministry.
UAE commercial flights to and from Algiers, however, will be exempt from the ban until the end of 2026, when the existing contract expires.
The Algerian Foreign Ministry said the UAE ambassador had been summoned, informed of the decision and given 48 hours to comply.
Differing Positions on Regional Issues
Relations between Algeria and the UAE have become increasingly strained in recent years, with Algerian media outlets strongly criticising Abu Dhabi and accusing it of seeking to create divisions in the region.
The two countries also hold differing positions on several regional issues.
Algeria opposes normalisation with Israel, while the UAE and Algeria’s regional rival, Morocco, established diplomatic relations with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020.
The two countries are also on opposing sides of the long-running 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 independence for Western Sahara.
Their interests have also increasingly overlapped in the Sahel, where the UAE has expanded relations with several governments, while Algeria’s ties with some of its southern neighbours have deteriorated following a series of military coups.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said last year that his country’s relations with Gulf states were warm except for one, in an apparent reference to the UAE.
He described relations 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 February, Algeria also began the process of cancelling an air services agreement with the UAE signed in Abu Dhabi in May 2013.
