Algeria has officially severed ties with the United Arab Emirates, following a period of escalating tensions.
Algeria has severed diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, bringing years of mounting tensions between the two countries to a formal rupture. Algiers accused Abu Dhabi of a series of “provocative or hostile” actions and said it had exhausted all avenues to preserve bilateral relations.
Reuters reported that Algeria summoned the UAE ambassador and gave him 48 hours to leave the country. UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash, without directly naming Algeria, said diplomacy should be based on “rationality, communication and clarity of interests”, rather than “riddles and signals”.
The rift between Algeria and the UAE had been building for months before Algiers formally severed diplomatic ties. In October 2025, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune accused an unnamed Gulf country of meddling in Algeria’s internal affairs and seeking to destabilise the country, in remarks widely understood as referring to the UAE.
In February 2026, Algeria began procedures to cancel a 2013 air-services agreement with the UAE, signalling that the dispute had moved beyond rhetoric and into concrete bilateral measures.
The immediate trigger remains unclear because Algeria has not pointed to one specific incident. One of the biggest fault lines is Western Sahara, where Algeria and the UAE are aligned with opposing sides. The dispute also reflects a broader competition for influence in the Sahel. Algeria has also raised the issue of Emirati interference directly.
A further divide comes from their different positions on Israel and the wider Middle East.
