Algeria announced on Thursday that it was cutting diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, citing what it described as a sustained pattern of "provocative and hostile" actions by Abu Dhabi that had exhausted all avenues for preserving bilateral ties. Algeria's state television broadcast the news as a breaking bulletin, shortly after the Algerian foreign ministry summoned the UAE ambassador to formally notify him of the decision and gave him 48 hours to comply and leave the country. Later that evening, Algeria's defence ministry announced the closure of its airspace to all civilian and military aircraft registered in the UAE, though flights already operating between the two countries would continue until the end of their existing service contracts.

In its statement, the Algerian foreign ministry said the country had shown "considerable restraint" and had issued "repeated warnings" to Abu Dhabi over what it characterised as unacceptable interference in Algeria's internal affairs and in neighbouring countries. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had for years been openly critical of the UAE, regularly describing it as a "micro-state" or "statelet" — dismissive terms reflecting deep official frustration. In a televised interview in July, he said: "Wherever they set foot, blood flows," and added that Algeria wanted the UAE to "stay away so that blood does not flow in our country." Algerian state media and outlets close to the government have specifically accused Abu Dhabi of waging a media campaign against Algiers and of meddling in Libya, Mali, Sudan, and the broader Sahel region.

The breakdown reflects a confluence of long-running strategic disagreements. The two countries are on opposite sides of the Western Sahara dispute — a decades-old conflict over a largely desert territory on Africa's Atlantic coast — with Algeria backing the independence-seeking Polisario Front while the UAE supports Morocco's claim to sovereignty over the area. They have also diverged sharply on normalisation with Israel: the UAE established diplomatic ties with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020, a move Algeria firmly opposes. Competition for influence in the Sahel, where both countries have sought to expand their regional reach amid political instability and a series of military coups, has added further friction.

The UAE responded with measured language, expressing hope that the decision would prove "temporary" and affirming its "esteem for the brotherly Algerian people." The UAE's diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash posted on X that diplomatic relations should be "managed with reason, communication, and clarity of interests" rather than "internal pressure or absence of vision," without naming Algeria directly. The UAE state news agency WAM quoted the foreign ministry as saying Abu Dhabi remained committed to developing ties with all states in ways that serve "common interests, understanding and prosperity."

The break marks a significant escalation in a relationship that had been deteriorating since Tebboune's first presidential term began in 2020. Algeria had already taken a preliminary step in February by initiating the cancellation of a bilateral air services agreement signed in Abu Dhabi in 2013. The decision now places the two Arab nations in a formal state of diplomatic rupture, with uncertain consequences for the roughly 48,000 Algerians estimated to reside in the UAE, whose ties the Emirati foreign ministry said it remains keen to protect.