Algeria has announced that it is severing diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following years of worsening tensions between the two countries.
Algiers said Thursday that it had decided to end diplomatic ties after repeated efforts to preserve the bilateral relationship failed, with Algerian authorities accusing Abu Dhabi of interfering in domestic and regional affairs.
“Algeria has decided to cut diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, following the exhaustion of all means to preserve bilateral relations,” Algeria’s state television announced.
The Algerian government also gave the UAE ambassador in Algiers 48 hours “to comply with the decision”.
Tebboune Accuses UAE of Regional Interference
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has repeatedly criticised the UAE in public remarks, at times referring to the Gulf nation as a “micro-state” or “statelet” that he accused of seeking to destabilise countries across the region.
“Wherever they set foot, blood flows,” he said during a televised interview in July, adding that the UAE has had a “very negative impact”.
Tebboune added: “We want them to stay away, so that blood does not flow in our country”.
At the time, the Algerian president said a diplomatic split between the two nations “would have happened long ago” if Algeria had not tried to prevent what he described as “deepening divisions” within the Arab world.
The latest decision marks a significant deterioration in Algeria-UAE relations after months of increasingly strained ties and escalating public criticism between the two sides.
