After Morocco, Algeria breaks with another major ally of the kingdom
Algeria announced this Thursday, September 10, that it was severing diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates. A spectacular decision targeting one of Morocco’s closest political and economic partners.
Algiers says it has “exhausted all means” of preserving its relations with Abu Dhabi, according to an announcement broadcast by Algerian state television. No specific reason was immediately given, reports Reuters.
This rupture comes five years after the one unilaterally decided by Algeria with Morocco, on August 24, 2021. Since then, the Algerian authorities have also closed their airspace to Moroccan aircraft and intensified their accusations against Rabat.
Tensions become public
Relations between Algiers and Abu Dhabi had been deteriorating for several months. Last February, Algeria had already begun withdrawing from the air agreement concluded with the United Arab Emirates in 2013. Abdelmadjid Tebboune had previously accused, without naming it, a Gulf country of interfering in Algerian affairs and seeking to destabilize the region.
Algerian media close to the government notably criticize the Emirates for their proximity to Morocco and their policy in the Sahel.
Abu Dhabi is one of Rabat’s main Arab allies. The Emirates were the first Arab country to open a consulate in Laâyoune, in November 2020, thereby providing particularly symbolic support for Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara. Mohammed VI and the Emirati president, Mohammed bin Zayed, have since strengthened their political and economic partnership.
The Algerian decision therefore marks another major rupture in regional diplomacy. After Morocco, Algiers is this time cutting ties with a Gulf state closely linked to the kingdom, without having yet specified the concrete consequences for the embassies, nationals and exchanges between the two countries.