ALGIERS (Dispatches) -- Algeria announced on Thursday that it will sever its diplomatic relations with the UAE in response to “provocative or hostile actions” and after “exhausting all means to preserve bilateral relations.”
The Algerian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the government had decided to “sever diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates” after exercising “great restraint and a high sense of responsibility.”
The statement said Algiers had repeatedly warned Abu Dhabi of the “grave consequences” if such actions persisted.
The ministry reported that the UAE ambassador to Algeria was officially informed of the decision and given a 48-hour deadline to comply.
Last year, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune described his country’s relations as warm with all Persian Gulf states except one, in a veiled reference to the UAE.
He described relations with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar as “fraternal,” while accusing the unnamed country of interfering in Algeria’s internal affairs and seeking to destabilize it.
Tensions escalated in February when Algeria began proceedings to cancel an air services agreement with the UAE signed in Abu Dhabi in May 2013.
Algeria has severed diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates after what it described as the “exhaustion of all means to preserve bilateral relations”.
The cancellation came amid reports that the UAE was seeking to support the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), a separatist group in northern Algeria, which Algiers considers a terrorist organization.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated in recent years amid the UAE’s efforts to destabilize states and fuel civil wars across West Asia and North Africa in partnership with Israel.
In April 2024, President Tebboune referred to the UAE when he stated that, “Wherever there is conflict, the money of this state [the Emirates] is there – in Mali, Libya, and Sudan.”
The UAE has also strongly backed Morocco in its bid to annex Western Sahara, while Algeria supports the Polisario Front, which fights for self-determination in the territory.
The UAE also supported Morocco’s normalization with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, which Algeria opposed.
Since gaining independence from France in 1962, Algeria has consistently supported the Palestinian cause, in part due to both countries’ shared history of resisting foreign colonial occupation.
Algiers cut ties with Morocco after Rabat normalized relations with Israel under U.S. auspices in December 2020, viewing the deal as a direct threat to Algeria’s borders and security. 
“Morocco’s military exercises with Israel contradict the principles of good neighborliness that we have always tried to uphold,” stated President Tebboune in an interview with French media.