Algeria says it has decided to cut 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”.
Algeria’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that the UAE’s actions had reached a point where they could no longer be considered acceptable and that it had “exhausted all means of preserving bilateral relations”.
It said the Emirati ambassador had been summoned to the ministry, informed of the decision and given 48 hours to comply.
Later in the day, Algeria said it will close its airspace to all UAE-registered civilian and military aircraft from Friday, Ennahar TV reported, citing the defence ministry. UAE commercial flights to and from Algiers will be exempt from the ban until the end of 2026, when the current contract expires, the ministry added.
The UAE hoped Algeria’s decision to cut diplomatic ties would be “temporary”, its foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) 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 added.
Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, wrote on X 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.
Strained relations
Relations between the two countries have come under growing strain in recent years, as Algiers and Abu Dhabi have taken differing positions on several regional issues.
Algeria opposes normalisation with Israel, while the UAE and Algeria’s regional rival Morocco established diplomatic ties with Israel under the United States-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 crossed in the Sahel, where the UAE has expanded ties with several governments in recent years, while Algeria’s relations with some of its southern neighbours have become strained following a series of military coups.
Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune has often referred to the UAE in speeches as a “micro-state” or “statelet” seeking to destabilise several countries in the region.
“Wherever they set foot, blood flows,” he 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 the time, Tebboune said a diplomatic break “would have happened long ago” had Algeria not sought to avoid “deepening divisions” in the Arab world.
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