Abu Dhabi (AsiaNews) – The long-standing rift between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Algeria has now led the Algerian government to break diplomatic relations that go back 50 years.
Divergent strategic interests; regional rivalries in Africa, starting with the Sahel; and an escalation of provocative actions stemming from years of unresolved tensions have finally reached a breaking point.
The North African country accuses the Gulf state of increasingly "provocative and hostile acts”, following years of friction that also involved Morocco and Western Sahara.
Severing relations
The UAE and Algeria established diplomatic relations in 1976, five years after the Gulf state was formed.
Algeria was among the first countries to recognise the federation and long maintained cooperative ties with it; indeed, even during the recent tensions and rivalry, the Algerian embassy in Abu Dhabi described the relationship as "historically rooted" and solid.
However, behind the official statements, tensions were simmering, tensions that have now fully come to the fore with the decision to freeze diplomatic relations and bar UAE aircraft from using Algerian airspace.
In a statement, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the UAE “has persisted in its excesses with these actions, which have reached limits that can no longer be considered acceptable or tolerable.”
The statement goes on to say that, “after exhausting all avenues capable of preserving bilateral relations, the Algerian government has decided, this day, to sever diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates."
Finally, Algerian authorities summoned UAE Ambassador Yousef Saif Khamis Subaa Al-Ali and gave him 48 hours to leave the country.
On Wednesday, the day before relations were severed, the official Algerian press described the UAE as a “conductor” in regional crises and conflicts, citing its financial support for influential actors and networks (which are also active in conflicts) across Africa and the Middle East.
In response, the UAE foreign ministry chose a more conciliatory approach. Reiterating the UAE’s commitment to bilateral ties, it expressed “hope that this decision will be temporary, in a manner that preserves the fraternal ties between the two brotherly peoples”.
Still, some UAE officials criticised the Algerian government for relying on "vague insinuations" rather than direct diplomacy.
Years of tensions
The breakdown follows a major falling out in recent years, as evinced by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s repeated criticism of UAE leaders.
Last October, he spoke about Algeria’s good relations with every Gulf state “except one”, an implicit, yet barely veiled, reference to the UAE.
Tebboune described ties with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar as “brotherly”, while accusing the unnamed country of interfering in Algeria’s internal affairs in an attempt to destabilise it.
“The problem is with whoever wants to sow chaos in my home for dubious reasons,” he said, highlighting the ambiguity of the UAE’s role and regional and global stance: a US partner, a party to the Abraham Accords normalising relations with Israel but, at the same time, it acts as a shadowy ally for Iranian interests, to the point of representing the key to US President Donald Trump’s “economic D-Day” against Iran.
According to different analysts, a key source of tensions in relations between Algeria and the UAE is the latter’s close strategic partnership with Morocco, Algeria’s historic nemesis, involving the decades-long dispute over Western Sahara.
Morocco claims sovereignty over the territory, while Algeria supports the Polisario Front,[*] which has long fought for an independent Sahrawi state.
In this regard, the UAE became the first Arab country to open a consulate in Laayoune, the largest city in the part of Western Sahara controlled by Morocco.
The UAE’s state news agency, WAM, stated that the move represented a “concrete expression” of Gulf state’s support for Morocco regarding its territorial claims over what it calls the “southern provinces”.
Bloodbath
Relations have been further strained by the Abraham Accords and their local repercussions, a move Algeria vehemently opposed. Algeria has no diplomatic relations with Israel and has criticised the UAE and Morocco for establishing ties with the Jewish state.
Finally, tensions between Algeria and the UAE also involve the Sahel region, which Algeria views as a vital security zone.
Over time, Algeria has shown growing wariness regarding the UAE’s deepening cooperation with Sahelian countries, ties that date back to 2010, when it signed a series of security agreements with Mali and Burkina Faso.
Sub-Saharan Africa has shifted from being a periphery of geopolitical competition to one of major confrontation, characterised by state crises, expanding jihadi and radical Islamist movements, and the retreat of Western powers in favour of China, Russia, Turkey, and the Gulf monarchies.
Amidst growing instability, the UAE – like Saudi Arabia and Qatar – has sought to strengthen its presence by combining diplomacy, economic engagement, humanitarian aid, security support, and partnerships rooted in a shared Islamic identity.
Gulf states have frequently faced accusations of fuelling conflicts in Africa, like in Sudan, where Arab emirates and kingdoms have built a web of interests and relationships with little regard for the civilian lives lost.
Boycott campaigns and denunciations by international advocacy groups and the Sudanese diaspora have proven futile; the latter accuse the UAE of backing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a group responsible for atrocities, including more than 2,000 civilian deaths, during the offensive to capture El Fasher.
Renewing accusations that Abu Dhabi is interfering in North African and Sahelian countries, from Libya to Mali, the Algerian president referred to the Emirates as a “micro-state” seeking to destabilise the region.
In July, Tebboune escalated the rhetoric of confrontation, stating that “wherever they set foot, blood flows.” For this reason, he added, “we want them to stay away, so that blood does not flow in our country.”
Finally, he noted that the rupture “would have happened long ago” had Algeria not tried to avert “deepening divisions” in the Arab world.
[*] Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro, or Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro.
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