Algeria Severs Diplomatic Relations With UAE, Citing ‘Provocative or Hostile’ Acts
Algeria has announced it is severing diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, accusing Abu Dhabi of a series of “provocative or hostile” actions and giving the UAE’s ambassador 48 hours to comply with the decision, in a significant rupture between the two Arab nations.
Algeria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the state news agency APS on Thursday, September 10, that despite repeated warnings, the UAE had continued what it described as regrettable and unjustified acts, adding that all avenues to preserve bilateral relations had been exhausted. The ministry did not provide detailed specifics of the incidents that prompted the decision. The Emirati ambassador to Algeria was summoned and formally informed of the move.
In response, the UAE’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it hoped Algeria’s decision would prove temporary, affirming its appreciation for the Algerian people and the bonds between the two nations, including through the Algerian community residing in the UAE. Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, wrote separately on social media platform X that diplomatic relations should be grounded in rationality, communication and clarity of interests rather than riddles and signals requiring decoding, though he did not explicitly name Algeria or directly link the comments to Algiers’ announcement.
Thursday’s rupture caps years of steadily deteriorating relations between the two countries, rooted in a series of overlapping regional disagreements. Algeria remains firmly opposed to normalisation with Israel, while the UAE established diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020 under the United States-brokered Abraham Accords and has since deepened economic, diplomatic and defence ties with the country. The two nations also sit on opposing sides of the long-running Western Sahara dispute, with the UAE backing Morocco’s claim of sovereignty over the territory, where it maintains a consulate, while Algeria continues to support the Polisario Front’s campaign for an independent Western Sahara state.
Tensions have also grown over the Sahel, where the UAE has expanded its diplomatic and economic ties with several governments in recent years, even as Algeria’s own relations with some of its southern neighbours have become strained following a series of military coups in the region. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has repeatedly criticised the UAE in public remarks, at times referring to the country as a “micro-state” or “statelet” he has accused of seeking to destabilise several countries in the region. In a televised interview in July, Tebboune said the UAE’s involvement in the region had had what he called a very negative impact, adding that Algeria wanted the country to stay away so that, in his words, blood would not flow within its borders. At the time, Tebboune indicated that a full diplomatic break might have occurred sooner had Algeria not sought to preserve the relationship.
Thursday’s decision marks the second time in recent years that Algeria has severed diplomatic ties with a country over accusations of hostile interference, having previously cut relations with neighbouring Morocco in 2021 amid similarly longstanding tensions over Western Sahara. The rupture with the UAE also follows a broader pattern of strained relations between Abu Dhabi and several African nations in recent months, including Somalia’s decision earlier this year to cancel a range of agreements with the UAE covering ports, security and defence, citing concerns over its sovereignty and political independence.
As of the time of reporting, the UAE had not issued a formal, detailed response addressing the specific accusations raised in Algeria’s statement, and the immediate practical implications of the diplomatic break for citizens, trade and other bilateral arrangements between the two countries remain to be clarified in the days ahead.
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