Algeria severs diplomatic relations with United Arab Emirates

Algeria has ended diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates after saying all efforts to preserve bilateral ties had been exhausted, marking a sharp escalation in a dispute that had already damaged political and transport links between the two Arab states.

The decision was announced on Thursday by Algerian state television, which cited the authorities as saying Algeria had exhausted every avenue available to maintain relations with Abu Dhabi. No detailed explanation for the final rupture was given immediately, and the UAE Foreign Ministry had not issued a public response at the time of the announcement.

The move formalises a breakdown that had become increasingly visible during 2026. Algeria had already begun procedures to terminate a bilateral air services agreement signed in 2013, a step that signalled a significant deterioration in official relations and affected one of the practical frameworks underpinning travel and aviation links between the countries.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had also used increasingly pointed language when discussing what he described as interference by an unnamed Gulf state in Algeria’s affairs. Although he did not always identify the country publicly, the remarks were widely understood to refer to the UAE. Tebboune at the same time distinguished Algeria’s ties with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, stressing that its dispute was not with Gulf Arab countries collectively.

Algeria’s government has repeatedly presented non-interference as a central principle of its foreign policy. Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf reiterated that position this week during Arab League meetings in Cairo, saying solutions to crises in Arab states should be national, inclusive and free from foreign intervention. The statement did not specifically address the UAE, but it reflected a theme that has become prominent in Algiers’ regional diplomacy.

Relations between Algeria and the UAE had previously been built around diplomatic, economic and investment cooperation. Formal diplomatic ties date from the 1970s, while a bilateral ministerial joint committee was established in the 1980s to oversee cooperation. The two sides held the committee’s 15th session in Abu Dhabi in November 2023, when agreements and memoranda were signed across several sectors.

That institutional framework has come under growing strain as political differences widened. Algerian public discourse increasingly accused Abu Dhabi of involvement in regional disputes and of actions regarded by Algiers as contrary to its security interests. UAE authorities have not publicly accepted those allegations, and no evidence supporting the broadest claims has been released by Algeria in connection with Thursday’s decision.

The rupture could affect diplomatic representation, consular coordination, aviation arrangements and some areas of commercial engagement, although Algeria had not immediately detailed the administrative timetable for implementing the decision. The status of embassy personnel and consular services was also not specified in the initial announcement.

The UAE and Algeria are both members of the Arab League and have maintained ties with several of the same regional partners, making the break notable at a time of heightened diplomatic pressure across the Middle East and North Africa. Both governments have also sought to expand their economic and political relationships beyond their immediate neighbourhoods.

For Algeria, the step represents one of the strongest diplomatic measures available short of broader economic restrictions. It follows months in which official and semi-official criticism of the UAE intensified, while bilateral mechanisms that once supported cooperation were progressively weakened.

The February aviation move had provided a concrete sign that the quarrel was moving beyond rhetoric. Algeria started the process of cancelling the 2013 air services accord, which had governed scheduled air links between the countries. That action followed increasingly hostile political messaging in Algeria and raised questions about the future of wider bilateral cooperation. Thursday’s announcement takes the confrontation to the diplomatic level, leaving practical consequences to be clarified through subsequent formal government instructions.