After three years of escalating diplomatic crisis, Algeria has decided to sever its diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, in a statement announced via an official channel, giving the UAE ambassador in the country 48 hours to leave.
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Initially, a brief statement broadcast on Algerian television as “urgent” stated: “Algeria has decided to sever its diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates after exhausting all means to preserve bilateral relations.”
Later, the Algerian Foreign Ministry statement, in justifying the decision, stated that “in the face of the increasing provocative or hostile actions emanating from the United Arab Emirates,” Algeria exercised “great restraint and a high sense of responsibility,” and spared no effort, “out of a spirit of full respect for the principles governing relations between states,” in drawing the attention of the Emirati side and warning it of the “serious consequences” that may result from its “unfortunate and unjustified behavior.”
The ministry added that “despite these numerous warnings, the United Arab Emirates continued to persist in these actions, which have reached a point where they can no longer be considered acceptable or tolerable within the framework of relations between two sovereign states, or remain without a response.”
Accordingly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that “after exhausting all means to preserve bilateral relations,” the Algerian government decided on Thursday to “sever diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates.”
In the procedure accompanying the decision, the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates was received at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters on Thursday, September 10, 2026, where he was officially informed of the decision's contents. According to the same statement, the Emirati Ambassador was also informed that he had been given 48 hours to comply with this decision.
Airspace closure
In a subsequent development, the Algerian Ministry of Defense announced the closure of the country's airspace, starting from September 11, 2026, to all aircraft registered in the United Arab Emirates, both civilian and military, in both directions.
The ministry explained in a statement that this decision came “following Algeria’s severing of diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates.”
The decision excludes commercial civilian flights operated by the UAE to and from Houari Boumediene International Airport in Algiers, which will continue until the end of this year, 2026, the contract's expiration date.
UAE: We hope the decision will be "temporary"
In its first reaction, the UAE Foreign Ministry expressed hope that “the decision will be temporary, in order to preserve the fraternal ties between the two brotherly peoples.”
The ministry explained in a statement, “The UAE values its relations with all countries and is always keen to develop and strengthen them, in a way that serves common interests and promotes understanding, cooperation and prosperity.”
The ministry also affirmed “the UAE’s appreciation for the brotherly Algerian people and its pride in the ties that bind the two peoples, especially with the Algerian community residing in the country and visitors, and its keenness to maintain and strengthen these ties and common interests.”
A long path of tension
The decision comes as a result of a long history of tension that began to take a public turn in the summer of 2023, before gradually moving from media campaigns and indirect accusations to direct presidential statements, and then to official measures that affected cooperation between the two countries.
But the roots of the dispute go back further, with turning points dating back to 2020 when President Abdelmadjid Tebboune criticized the Abraham Accords, in which the UAE was a key player, describing the Arab normalization process as a “hasty rush.” Since then, relations between Algeria and Abu Dhabi have cooled, although cooperation has continued.
In the summer of 2023, the disagreement became more pronounced. Warnings from Algerian politicians close to the government regarding the UAE's role in the region intensified. Among the issues that raised particular sensitivities was the possibility of the normalization wave spreading to neighboring countries, especially Tunisia and Mauritania, following visits by Emirati officials to the region.
In August 2023, Abdelkader Bengrina, head of the National Construction Movement, warned against Emirati “visits” to Tunisia, suggesting they might push the country toward normalization. Following a meeting with President Tebboune, Workers' Party leader Louisa Hanoune also called for severing ties with the UAE, describing its economic presence as a threat to the country's sovereignty.
Among the most prominent Emirati investments in Algeria during the years of the late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in which relations developed in an unprecedented manner, was the deal to manage the capital’s port, which returned to Dubai Ports World, in addition to a partnership with the army to manufacture military transport vehicles under the Mercedes brand, and the national tobacco company, which was acquired by a controversial Emirati businessman.
Among the stalled projects that generated considerable discussion was the “Dounia Park” towers project, which was supposed to be completed by the Emirati company Emaar. The project included a resort and residential towers in the western suburbs of the capital, but it never materialized despite the company acquiring a large plot of land from its owners. The story ended with the Algerian state reclaiming the land after a legal dispute with the Emirati company.
The accusation against the UAE takes on an official character
After discussions about the UAE had remained confined to the media and politicians, in January 2024, the issue was given an official character when the Supreme Security Council in Algeria issued a statement expressing its regret for what it called “recorded hostile actions against Algeria by a brotherly Arab country,” which was directly understood as a warning to the UAE.Then, President Tebboune escalated the accusation directly. In March 2024, he spoke of the presence of Emirati money in the hotspots surrounding Algeria, saying: “In every place where there is conflict, this country’s money is always present,” specifically mentioning Mali, Libya, and Sudan, adding that Algeria harbors no enmity towards anyone, but “patience has its limits.”
But in June 2024, there appeared to be an attempt to break this trend. Tebboune and his Emirati counterpart, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, appeared in a side conversation on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy, their first public meeting after a long period of tension. The meeting signaled a possible easing of the dispute, especially since the two countries had not yet reached a formal break in relations.
In September of the same year, the Algerian presidency announced that Tebboune had received a phone call from Mohammed bin Zayed congratulating him on his re-election, and that the two presidents had agreed to meet “soon.” The announcement was seen at the time as another attempt to normalize relations after months of escalation.
However, the efforts to de-escalate tensions failed to withstand the reality of the deep rift between the two countries. Throughout 2024 and 2025, with few exceptions, regional issues continued to fuel the tension, while Algeria remained suspicious of the UAE's role in the Sahel, Libya, Sudan, and normalization files, as well as the close relations between Abu Dhabi and Rabat.Tensions resurfaced sharply when Algerian state media directly entered the fray. In May 2025, Algerian television launched a scathing attack on the UAE following a Sky News Arabia program featuring Algerian historian Mohamed El Amine Belghith, whose remarks about the Amazigh language sparked widespread anger in Algeria. Algerian television deemed the broadcast a “dangerous media escalation” and an “attack on the fundamental values of the Algerian people,” vowing to retaliate.
paving the way for severing ties
At the beginning of 2026, Algeria moved to practical measures. The authorities initiated procedures to cancel the air services agreement with the UAE, which was signed in Abu Dhabi on May 13, 2013, and ratified in Algiers in December 2014. Algeria notified the UAE of its decision and also began the procedures related to notifying the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Prior to that, in February 2026, the Algerian president stated, without explicitly naming the UAE, that a Gulf state had attempted to interfere in the Algerian presidential elections. He added that Algeria's relations with the Gulf states were "excellent, with the exception of one country." Addressing that country, he said, "Don't make us regret the day we met you," emphasizing that Algeria wanted to remain "a force for stability and a force for good."
Then came even harsher statements last May, when Tebboune commented on the UAE's decision to withdraw from OPEC and OPEC+, describing it as "a non-event," before adding: "The matter is closed, and the book is closed with them. A Syrian is a Syrian, and a Baghdadi is a Baghdadi." This statement was seen at the time as a clear indication that relations had effectively reached the point of a political break, even before it was officially declared.Thus, the decision to sever relations announced by Algerian television today is not surprising, but rather represents the final chapter in a process that lasted for about three years, which began with media campaigns and then turned into a political confrontation, before being punctuated by limited attempts at de-escalation and contact between the leaders of the two countries that did not succeed.
Algeria is expected to issue clearer details of its decision to sever ties with the UAE, through statements by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune or Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, similar to what it did when it made a similar decision with Morocco in August 2021, when the Algerian Foreign Minister read a presidential statement outlining the historical and political motives that led to the decision.
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