Relations have been strained for years as the two countries took different positions on several regional issues. Published September 10, 2026 September 10, 2026 Algeria says it has decided to cut diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates after what it described as a series of “provocative or hostile” actions by Abu Dhabi despite “repeated warnings.” Algeria’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the UAE’s actions had reached a point where it could no longer be considered acceptable and that it had “exhausted all means to preserve bilateral relations.” He said the Emirati ambassador had been summoned to the ministry, informed of the decision and given 48 hours to comply. There was no immediate comment from the United Arab Emirates. ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords negotiated by the United States in 2020. The two countries are also on opposite sides of the decades-long Western Sahara dispute. The United Arab Emirates supports Morocco’s claim to sovereignty over the territory where it has a consulate, while Algeria backs the Polisario Front, which seeks an independent Western Sahara. The two countries’ interests have increasingly intersected in the Sahel, where the United Arab Emirates has expanded ties with several governments in recent years, while Algeria’s relations with some of its southern neighbors have become strained following a series of military coups. Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune has often referred to the United Arab Emirates in his speeches as a “Microstate” or “small state” that seeks to destabilize several countries in the region. “Wherever they set foot, blood flows,” he said in a televised interview in July, adding that the United Arab Emirates has had a “very negative impact.” “We want them to stay away, so that blood does not flow in our country,” he added. At the time, Tebboune said a diplomatic rift “would have happened a long time ago” if Algeria had not tried to avoid “deepening divisions” in the Arab world.
