Algeria severs diplomatic ties with UAE over 'provocative and hostile acts'

Algeria severed diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, citing what it described as "provocative and hostile acts.

The Algerian Defense Ministry said the country would close its airspace to the UAE beginning on Friday.

However, commercial flights to and from Algiers will be allowed to continue until the end of 2026.

Relations between the two countries have been strained for years over the UAE's expanding influence in northern and western Africa.

What did Algeria and the UAE say about the decision?

The Algerian Foreign Ministry said that it had made the decision "after exhausting all avenues to preserve bilateral relations" with the Gulf country.

It added that the UAE had "persisted in its actions, reaching a point where they could no longer be considered acceptable or tolerable."

Algiers said it had given the UAE's ambassador 48 hours to comply with the decision to cut ties.

The Emirati Foreign Ministry said that it hoped that the decision would be temporary.

"The UAE expresses hope that this decision will be temporary, in a manner that preserves the fraternal ties between the two brotherly peoples," the ministry said in a statement.

It said that 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."

Following the announcement, Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic advisor to UAE leader Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said that diplomatic relations should be based on "rationality, communication and clarity of interests" rather than "riddles and signals that require decoding."

He did not explicitly mention Algeria in his post on X.

What are the tensions between Algeria and the UAE?

Algeria has in the past accused Abu Dhabi of working to destabilize countries in northern Africa and the Sahel such as Libya, Mali, and Sudan.

The UAE has been accused of supporting the RSF paramilitary in Sudan's civil war, a charge it denies.

It also backs former warlord Khalifa Haftar's Tobruk-based administration in eastern Libya, a rival to the UN-recognized government in Tripoli.

In July, Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune harshly criticized the UAE for its influence in other countries, saying "wherever they set foot, blood flows."

"We want them to stay away, so that blood does not flow in our country."

Algeria also severed its diplomatic ties with neighboring Morocco in 2021, accusing Rabat of supporting Amazigh separatists in the coastal Kabylia region and amid longstanding tensions over the territory of Western Sahara.

Edited by: Zac Crellin