Algeria hits hard and ends its relations with the United Arab Emirates

This time, Algiers decided to close the door. Algeria announced on Thursday the severance of its diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, after years of tensions and deep differences with Abu Dhabi.

The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims to have “exhausted all avenues” to preserve relations between the two countries. The Emirati ambassador was summoned and ordered to leave the territory. Algiers has also decided to close its airspace to aircraft registered in the Emirates, with a temporary exemption for commercial flights.

A spectacular decision, but one that does not fall from the sky. For several years, Algiers has viewed the regional policy led by Abu Dhabi with growing distrust. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune himself had accused, without explicitly naming it, a Gulf monarchy of seeking to interfere in Algerian internal affairs and destabilize the country.

And there is no shortage of subjects for confrontation. On Israel, first. Where Algeria categorically refuses any normalization with the Jewish state and has repeatedly denounced the genocide in Gaza, the United Arab Emirates was one of the main architects of the Abraham Accords and has maintained official diplomatic relations with Israel since 2020.

A contrast that has become even more striking since the start of the war in Gaza, Algiers having chosen to display constant support for the Palestinian cause, while Abu Dhabi has maintained its relations with Israel.

Then on Western Sahara. Abu Dhabi openly supports the Moroccan position and has even opened a consulate in Laâyoune, while Algeria defends the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people and supports the Polisario Front. In the Sahel, finally, Algiers is also seeing Emirati influence grow in a region that it considers to be directly linked to its national security. Faced with this accumulation, Algiers has chosen to no longer pretend.

Abu Dhabi reacted with a much more conciliatory speech, saying it hoped the break was only “temporary” and highlighting the fraternal ties between the two peoples. But Algeria seems to consider that a red line has been crossed.

This rupture above all reflects an increasingly visible reality: Algiers intends to remain master of its diplomatic choices and refuses to allow major Gulf maneuvers, rapprochements with Israel or regional rivalries to dictate its foreign policy. In an Arab world where money and geopolitical alliances sometimes make it possible to weigh heavily on more fragile states, Algeria has just sent a particularly clear message to Abu Dhabi: Algerian independence is not for sale.