Diplomatic tensions between Algeria and UAE: The new reality of a stormy relationship - Anadolu Ajansı

Abdennour Toumi is a Senior Consultant at Middle East & Africa Strategic Institute (MEA).

For five decades, relations between Algeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) evolved from cautious diplomatic cooperation into a broad economic partnership. Nowadays, that relationship has entered a fundamentally different phase. The deterioration of Algiers-Abu Dhabi relations is not simply the product of a bilateral dispute. It reflects a broader struggle over competing visions of a new regional order in North Africa, the African Sahel, and the wider Middle East. Algeria's foreign-policy doctrine remains anchored in sovereignty, non-interference, territorial integrity, self-determination, and the preservation of state institutions.

The foundations of Algerian-Emirati relations were laid shortly after the establishment of the United Arab Emirates in 1971. During the 1970s and 1980s, political relations benefited from high-level contacts. These exchanges created a framework for political dialogue at a time when both countries sought to consolidate their respective positions in the Arab and African worlds.

The relationship acquired a stronger economic dimension during the 2000s under the late Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Emirati companies became increasingly visible in Algeria's infrastructure and commercial sectors. For a period, economic engagement provided a useful buffer against political differences. But that buffer gradually weakened as the strategic environments of the two countries began to diverge.

The UAE's decision to establish diplomatic relations with Israel fundamentally altered its position within the regional political landscape. Algeria, however, has consistently rejected normalization with Israel and has maintained a strong political commitment to the Palestinian cause. The same period witnessed a series of developments that transformed the Maghreb's geopolitical environment. The United States recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in December 2020, while France and Spain subsequently adopted positions viewed in Algiers as increasingly favorable to Rabat.

For Algeria, Western Sahara is not merely a dispute between two neighboring states. It is closely connected to its conception of self-determination, regional balance, and national security. Algeria's decision to sever diplomatic relations with Morocco in August 2021 was a clear example of this dynamic. Algeria's strategic culture is deeply influenced by the experience of colonialism and by the belief that the fragmentation of neighboring states can ultimately threaten its national security.

Yet, the convergence between Abu Dhabi and Rabat, particularly in the context of Morocco's expanding relations with Israel, has reinforced Algerian perceptions that a broader strategic alignment is emerging across its western, eastern, and southern security environments. For Algiers, the concern is therefore less about the UAE itself than about the emergence of a network of actors and policies that it views as disruptive and potentially capable of generating destabilizing effects, while obstructing Algeria’s strategic objectives in a sub-region that it considers vital to its humanitarian, stability, and development diplomacy.

The UAE has adopted a considerably more interventionist regional posture. In Libya, Abu Dhabi became a major supporter of Khalifa Haftar and the Libyan National Army during the country's conflict. In Sudan, the UAE has repeatedly faced allegations of supporting the Rapid Support Forces during the country's devastating civil war. Abu Dhabi has denied allegations of providing military support to the RSF.

Whatever the validity of individual accusations, the strategic perception in Algiers is important. Algeria increasingly sees the UAE as a regional actor willing to seed influence through political, economic, and security networks beyond its immediate borders. In January 2024, Algeria's High Security Council expressed concern about what it described as "hostile behavior" originating from a "brotherly Arab country," widely interpreted in Algerian political and media circles as a reference to the UAE. In March, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune referred to Emirati financial interests in several regional conflict zones, including Mali, Libya, and Sudan.

The most consequential development came when the dispute began moving from the regional arena toward Algeria's domestic political space. In February 2026, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune stated that an unnamed Arab country attempted to interfere in Algeria's presidential elections and described that country as a “pseudo-state.” Algerian media widely interpreted the remarks as a reference to the UAE.

The same month, Algeria reportedly initiated procedures aimed at terminating an air transport agreement with the UAE signed in Abu Dhabi in 2013. Taken together, these developments suggested that the dispute was no longer confined to diplomatic disagreements over Libya, Sudan, Palestine, or Western Sahara. Bilateral tensions were beginning to affect practical cooperation and, more importantly, to become a national-security concern for Algeria.

The country shares over 3,200 kilometers of borders with Mali, Niger, and Libya. These are not distant geopolitical theaters for Algiers; they constitute Algeria's immediate security environment. For decades, Algerian diplomacy has sought to prevent instability in the African Sahel and North Africa from spilling across its borders. Algiers has frequently favored mediation, political reconciliation, and engagement with local actors rather than political interference or direct military intervention. This approach has gradually become part of a broader foreign-policy doctrine centered on stability and development. The UAE's growing influence in Libya and its relationships with political and security actors in the African Sahel therefore carry implications that extend beyond traditional diplomacy.

Algeria has historically considered the region part of its important geo-strategic depth. Instability in Mali, Niger, Libya, and the wider African Sahel directly affects Algeria through terrorism, arms trafficking, migration, organized crime, and political instability. The political upheavals that have transformed the region in recent years have complicated Algeria's traditional diplomatic and military approach. Military coups, changes in the regional dynamics and balance, the emergence of new security partnerships, and competition among external regional powers have created an increasingly fragmented geopolitical environment.

In response, Algeria has sought to strengthen its relations with neighboring states, including Tunisia, Mauritania, Mali, and Niger, while reinforcing its border-security posture. It has increased military cooperation and training with those countries. Military allocations for 2025 reportedly reached the equivalent of approximately €23.8 billion, representing a substantial increase compared with 2022 and roughly one-fifth of the national budget.

For Algeria, military preparedness is increasingly linked to diplomatic credibility. A state surrounded by unstable neighbors and competing regional powers cannot rely exclusively on political reconciliation and mediation. The reported failed coup attempt in Niger on Aug. 28, 2026, has added another layer to an already volatile regional environment. Algeria has long regarded political instability in the Sahel as a potential security threat to its southern borders and national security.

In 2023, Algeria exported approximately $10.7 million worth of goods to the UAE. The relatively modest scale of bilateral trade, compared with the strategic importance of the relationship, illustrates the limits of economic interdependence as a mechanism for preventing political confrontation.

The Algeria-UAE relations have crossed an important threshold. The central question is no longer whether Algeria and the UAE have disagreements, which they clearly do. The million-dollar question is whether their competing regional strategies can coexist without producing a permanent strategic confrontation.

In sum, the deterioration of Algeria-UAE relations should therefore not be seen simply as another episode of intra-Arab diplomatic rivalry. It is part of a larger restructuring of power in North Africa and the African Sahel. Algeria today is a major North African rising state with substantial military and economic capabilities, extensive borders, and deep influence in the African Sahel, leading through diplomatic example.

*Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu.