Relations are not Sugar: why Algeria severed diplomatic ties with the UAE
Algeria announced on September 10 that it had severed diplomatic relations with the UAE. The country's authorities have stated that the possibilities for maintaining bilateral ties have been exhausted. The specific reasons for this step have not been officially disclosed, but experts interviewed by Izvestia attribute Algeria's decision to the accumulated contradictions with Abu Dhabi in North Africa and the Sahel, as well as the support of the Emirates of Morocco. What a diplomatic conflict between the two countries can lead to is in the Izvestia article.
The conflict did not start yesterday
Relations between Algeria and Abu Dhabi have steadily deteriorated over the past few years. The formal starting point can be August 2020, when the UAE and Morocco normalized relations with Israel within the framework of the "Abraham Agreements". Algeria perceived the incident not only as a betrayal of the interests of Palestine, but also as the formation of a potential strategic threat to itself, especially given the strained relations with Rabat (diplomatic ties with which were terminated in 2021).
In January 2024, the Supreme Security Council of the republic "took out the trash from the hut" for the first time, expressing regret over the "hostile actions" on the part of an unnamed Arab country. And although the UAE was not mentioned in the publications, the hint was considered quite quickly. Moreover, the impersonal attack was soon followed by a campaign in the Algerian media. Abu Dhabi was accused of supporting "radical and opportunistic forces" in Africa, as well as posing a threat to border security. However, despite this, the parties maintained the appearance of a pragmatic partnership for some time.
The first signs of irreversible discord appeared in February 2026, when Algeria initiated the procedure for terminating the air service agreement with the UAE, signed in 2013. The dynamics of economic and cultural ties have also declined sharply. And in September 2026, the authorities of the republic, without explaining the reasons, announced a complete rejection of further political dialogue with the Emirates.
"Algeria today decided to sever diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates after exhausting all means capable of maintaining bilateral relations," the press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the republic noted. The UAE Ambassador was given 48 hours to implement the decision to sever diplomatic relations.
Contradictions have accumulated between the countries
The decline in the level of dialogue between Algeria and the UAE is due not only to the UAE's rapprochement with Morocco and Israel under the auspices of the "Abraham Agreements". By increasing its military and political presence on the African continent, Abu Dhabi has crossed the "red lines" of its North African partner at least several times.
One of the key points of conflict of interests is Western Sahara. The UAE supports the position of Morocco, while Algeria stands on the side of the POLISARIO Front, which seeks the independence of this territory. The Emirates recognizes Rabat's sovereignty over Western Sahara and has opened a consulate in Laayoune.
In Algeria, Abu Dhabi's policy is seen as another evidence of its strategic rapprochement with Morocco. The Algerian side also accuses the Emirates of actions that, in its opinion, hinder the activities of the POLISARIO Front it supports and hinder the decolonization of the region.
The countries found themselves on different sides of the barricades in the Libyan conflict. In 2019, the Emirates supported the "march on Tripoli" by the forces of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who represented the alternative government in Tobruk, while the Algerian side, on the contrary, sided with Tripoli; demanded the stabilization of the front and the transition to an inter-Libyan political dialogue. Subsequently, Algeria repeatedly criticized the UAE for "artificially maintaining a split" in the former Jamahiriya. Over time, the situation unfolded in Sudan, where Algeria expressed support for the central authorities, and the UAE expressed support for the "Rapid Reaction Forces" who had risen up.
In addition, the Emirates has repeatedly been accused of interfering in internal Algerian affairs, including financing the separatist Berber "Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie," which the authorities of the North African Republic consider a terrorist organization. Abu Dhabi denied the attacks, calling the evidence presented by the counterpart fabricated.
Political analyst Dastan Tokoldoshev, in an interview with Izvestia, drew attention to the fact that for Algeria, fueling separatist sentiments in the region could be interpreted as hybrid aggression.
— The long—term confrontation between the official authorities in Algeria and the separatists from the Kabylie Liberation Movement, among other things, fits seamlessly into the theory of the UAE's multi-level foreign policy and military expansion towards states north of the Sahara, whether it is supporting separatists in Yemen, Libyan rebels, proxy forces in Sudan, and so on. From Algeria's point of view, the UAE deliberately created hotbeds of tension around its territories in order to weaken the country and prevent it from taking a leading position in the African security system," he said.
One way or another, such a number of clinches led Algeria to gradually perceive Abu Dhabi not as a potential partner, but as a source of a systemic threat to security, both national and international.
The time was not chosen by chance
Despite the accumulated contradictions, Algeria considered that a break in relations should be accompanied by a "last warning." On September 7, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf addressed a meeting of the Arab League in Cairo. In his speech, Attaf emphasized several times the fundamental point of Algeria's international position: "Arab crises need Arab solutions," and also pointed out the inadmissibility of "systemic external interference" in the affairs of the region.
Political analyst Advan Hisham is sure that this signal was addressed to the UAE and Morocco. According to him, Algeria has repeatedly used the Arab League podium to inflict "public slaps" on Rabat and Abu Dhabi. This time, the situation has developed in a similar way. At the same time, the authorities of the republic, apparently, positioned the speech on September 7 as the last public signal before severing diplomatic relations, the expert believes.
In addition, Hisham noted that by deciding on the final distancing from the UAE, Algeria could look at the problem more broadly. And to use as justification for his position not only the situation in Libya, Sudan and Western Sahara, but also in African countries in the Sahel zone, for example, in Niger, where an attempted coup was prevented in early September, which the UAE could have been indirectly involved in organizing.
Anyway, the current gap is unlikely to be short-lived. It will have a strategic impact on the regional situation in the Middle East and Africa. Morocco is highly likely to take advantage of the situation to further deepen ties with Abu Dhabi, including in the military sector. However, such steps will further strengthen Algeria's conviction that the Arabian monarchy is conducting systematic subversive work against it.
A logical step in this case may be the rapprochement of the republic with Saudi Arabia, the main competitor of the UAE. Thanks to this maneuver, Riyadh will receive an additional "window to Africa", and Algeria will become a reliable ally with a developed military-industrial complex, which will be able to balance the tactical alliance of Rabat and the UAE. However, the option of the republic's transition to an asymmetric struggle, including support for forces opposing the Emirates in Africa, is not excluded. Although such a step is seen as more dangerous, as it will only deepen the contradiction between the two countries, bringing them to the brink of armed conflict.
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