Why Algeria propping up Kais Saied is bad news for North Africa

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s televised summer pledge to defend Tunisia from external threats both bolstered bilateral ties and sparked discontent over Algiers’ growing regional influence.

Warning that Algeria treats an attack on Tunisia as a threat to its own sovereignty, Tebboune claimed secret forces are trying to break their ties and isolate its North African neighbour.

Using the Algerian dialect, he also warned: "Whoever brings terrorism to Tunisia or near Tunisia, we will destroy him in his parents' tent". While he did not name a specific hostile force, this has been interpreted as a direct reference to the UAE, which has been accused of trying to destabilise Algeria after years of disagreements over Western Sahara, the Sahel, and other regional conflicts.

Algeria reinforced this by formally severing ties with the UAE earlier this month, citing what it called “provocative and hostile” actions after repeated warnings. The Emirati ambassador was summoned and given 48 hours to leave, and UAE-registered aircraft were restricted.

Ultimately, Tebboune fears rival nations could pull Tunisia into their orbit and sideline Algeria, so his recent actions are seen as an attempt to reinforce alliances with Tunis and counter the growing influence of Gulf countries.

Indeed, Emirati investment in Tunisia has expanded steadily, particularly through economic and diplomatic engagement. In 2025, bilateral non-oil trade reached approximately $414 million, up 27.8% from the previous year, while both countries launched negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

Enabling repression

Forged during their shared struggle for independence from French colonialism, a deep-seated solidarity often characterises relations between the leadership and people of Algeria and Tunisia.

Algeria shares a strong historical and cultural bond with its neighbour. Both territories share Arab and Amazigh (Berber) roots, along with a strong Islamic cultural tradition. Families often live on both sides of the border that spans over 1,000 kilometres.

However, Tebboune's comments came at a tense moment for Tunisia’s population. Widespread blackouts have triggered intense public anger towards the government. The energy crisis also unfolded on the fifth anniversary of Tunisian President Kais Saied’s coup, during which he dissolved parliament, ousted the prime minister, and established centralised rule by decree.

Saied's post-2021 power grab has since led to heavy repression and the imprisonment of countless political opponents and dissidents.

Although Algeria initially called for constitutional order in Tunisia, the regime progressively became a staunch ally of Saied, providing vital political and economic support.

When Algeria and Tunisia signed a defence cooperation agreement last October covering border security, intelligence sharing, and military training, Tunisians criticised it for its lack of transparency.

People are also resentful that, with Tunisia on the brink of financial collapse, Algeria has become indispensable to Saied, enabling him to maintain control.

To cushion the impact of stalled IMF negotiations, Algiers heavily subsidised the struggling Tunisian economy between 2021 and 2025. Financial assistance included a $150 million central bank deposit, a $300 million loan in 2021, and a $200 million loan in 2022. Algeria also extended vital resource aid by supplying fuel and gas at discounted rates, including more than 22,000 tons of liquefied gas in 2025.

Consequently, Tunisia's foreign policy has tilted decisively toward Algiers. For example, when Saied hosted a diplomatic reception for Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali, this challenged Tunis’ longstanding policy of neutrality on the Western Sahara dispute between Algeria and Morocco.

Human rights organisations like Amnesty have also condemned aspects of the growing legal cooperation between Algeria and Tunisia, particularly after Algerian authorities extradited Tunisian opposition figure Seif Eddine Makhlouf earlier this year.

Both authorities stand accused of aiding one another in the crackdown on political dissent. One notable case is that of the Algerian social media activist Slimane Bouhafs, who held political refugee status in Tunisia until Algerian security services were allowed to abduct and detain him in 2021.

Two sides of the same coin

In reality, both regimes are cut from the same cloth.

Despite diverging during the 2011 Arab uprisings, Tunisian and Algerian politics have converged once again. Tunisia's slide into authoritarianism in recent years coincides with Algeria’s dismantling of the Hirak movement and its ongoing crackdown on civil society.

A striking parallel exists between Presidents Saied and Tebboune, who both ascended to power in the wake of socio-political movements that shook their security systems, a vulnerability both leaders have since pledged to aggressively prevent from recurring.

Indeed, under Tebboune, Algeria has jailed key Hirak figures and curbed human rights. Meanwhile, in Saied’s Tunisia, many opposition leaders and activists have faced similar repression.

Furthermore, on each side, leaders have stifled democracy by altering constitutions, demonising opposition, and ramping up the criminalisation of critics, as external interference is routinely invoked to justify crackdowns on political opposition.

Over the years, Saied has also mirrored Algeria's judicial tactics to alter his country’s legal system. The framework adopted relies on vague conspiracy charges and exceptional courts to target dissent. And Algeria has effectively insulated Tunisia from international scrutiny, enabling the Tunisian president to dismantle democratic reforms under the guise of protecting national sovereignty.

The paradox of paradoxes is that, despite tensions between Algiers and Abu Dhabi, both North African leaders have pursued political trajectories that overlap with the UAE’s broader counter-revolutionary agenda: curbing the political influence of Islamist movements and resisting a return to the pluralistic politics that emerged after the Arab Spring.

Dr Abd-el-Kader Cheref is a US-based Algerian scholar, freelance journalist, and former Fulbright grantee. He holds a PhD from the UK's University of Exeter and serves as an Assistant Professor of Africana and Multicultural Studies at Southern Illinois University. His research and writing focus heavily on African and MENA politics, democratization processes, postcolonial studies, Islam/Islamism, migration, and political violence.

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