Martti Ahtisaari

Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari ([mɑrtːi oiʋɑ kɑleʋi ɑhtisɑːri] (listen) born 23 June 1937) is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland (1994–2000), a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work.

President[1] Martti Ahtisaari
President Martti Ahtisaari pictured in 2012
10th President of Finland
In office 1 March 1994 – 1 March 2000
Prime Minister	Esko Aho Paavo Lipponen
Preceded by	Mauno Koivisto
Succeeded by	Tarja Halonen
Ambassador of Finland to Tanzania
In office 1973–1977
Preceded by	Seppo Pietinen
Succeeded by	Richard Müller
Personal details
Born	(1937-06-23) 23 June 1937 Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg, Russia)
Political party	Social Democratic
Spouse(s)	Eeva Hyvärinen[2]
Children	Marko
Alma mater	University of Oulu
Awards	Nobel Peace Prize (2008)
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	Finnish Army
Rank	Captain

Ahtisaari was a United Nations special envoy for Kosovo, charged with organizing the Kosovo status process negotiations, aimed at resolving a long-running dispute in Kosovo, which later declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. In October 2008, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts".[3] The Nobel statement said that Ahtisaari has played a prominent role in resolving serious and long-lasting conflicts, including ones in Namibia, Aceh (Indonesia),[4] Kosovo, and Iraq.[5]

Since the death of Mauno Koivisto in May 2017, Martti Ahtisaari is currently the oldest living President of Finland.

Youth and early career

Martti Ahtisaari was born in Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg, Russia). His father, Oiva Ahtisaari (whose grandfather Julius Marenius Adolfsen had emigrated with his parents to Finland in 1872 from Tistedalen in Southern Norway) took Finnish citizenship in 1929 and Finnicized his surname from Adolfsen in 1936. The Continuation War (World War II) took Martti's father to the front as an NCO army mechanic, while his mother, Tyyne, moved to Kuopio with her son to escape immediate danger from the war.[6] Kuopio was where Ahtisaari spent most of his childhood, eventually attending the Kuopion Lyseo high school.

In 1952, Martti Ahtisaari moved to Oulu with his family to seek employment. There he continued his education in high school, graduating in 1952. He also joined the local YMCA. After completing his military service (Ahtisaari holds the rank of captain in the Finnish Army Reserve), he began to study through a distance-learning course at Oulu teachers' college. He was able to live at home while attending the two-year course which enabled him to qualify as a primary-school teacher in 1959. Besides his native language, Finnish, Ahtisaari speaks Swedish, French, English, and German.

In 1960, he moved to Karachi, Pakistan, to lead the Swedish Pakistani Institute's physical education training establishment, where he became accustomed to a more international environment. In addition to managing the students' home, Ahtisaari's job involved training teachers. He returned to Finland in 1963, and became active in non-governmental organizations responsible for aid to developing countries. He joined the international students' organisation AIESEC, where he discovered new passions about diversity and diplomacy. In 1965, he joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in its Bureau for International Development Aid, eventually becoming the assistant head of the department. In 1968, he married Eeva Irmeli Hyvärinen. The couple has one son, Marko Ahtisaari, a technology entrepreneur and musician.

Diplomatic career

Ahtisaari spent several years as a diplomatic representative from Finland. He served as Finland's Ambassador to Tanzania from 1973 to 1977.[7] As UN Deputy Secretary-General 1977–1981 and as United Nations Commissioner for Namibia from 1976 to 1981, working to secure the independence of Namibia from the Republic of South Africa.

Between 1987–1991 Ahtisaari was the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for administration and management.[8]

Following the death of a later UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, on Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988 – on the eve of the signing of the Tripartite Accord at UN Headquarters – Ahtisaari was sent to Namibia in April 1989 as the UN Special Representative to head the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG). Because of the illegal incursion of SWAPO troops from Angola, the South African appointed Administrator-General (AG), Louis Pienaar, sought Ahtisaari's agreement to the deployment of SADF troops to stabilize the situation. Ahtisaari took advice from British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who was visiting the region at the time, and approved the SADF deployment. A period of intense fighting ensued when at least 375 SWAPO insurgents were killed.[9] In July 1989, Glenys Kinnock and Tessa Blackstone of the British Council of Churches visited Namibia and reported: "There is a widespread feeling that too many concessions were made to South African personnel and preferences and that Martti Ahtisaari was not forceful enough in his dealings with the South Africans."[10]

Perhaps because of his reluctance to authorise this SADF deployment, Ahtisaari was alleged to have been targeted by the South African Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB). According to a hearing in September 2000 of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, two CCB operatives (Kobus le Roux and Ferdinand Barnard) were tasked not to kill Ahtisaari, but to give him "a good hiding". To carry out the assault, Barnard had planned to use the grip handle of a metal saw as a knuckleduster. In the event, Ahtisaari did not attend the meeting at the Keetmanshoop Hotel, where Le Roux and Barnard lay in wait for him, and thus Ahtisaari escaped injury.[11]

After the independence elections of 1989, Ahtisaari was appointed an honorary Namibian citizen. South Africa gave him the O R Tambo award for "his outstanding achievement as a diplomat and commitment to the cause of freedom in Africa and peace in the world".[12]

Ahtisaari served as UN undersecretary general for administration and management from 1987 to 1991 causing mixed feelings inside the organisation during an internal investigation of massive fraud. When Ahtisaari revealed in 1990 that he had secretly lengthened the grace period allowing UN officials to return misappropriated taxpayer money from the original three months to three years, the investigators were furious. The 340 officials found guilty of fraud were able to return money even after their crime had been proven. The harshest punishment was the firing of twenty corrupt officials.[13][14]

President of Finland

See also: 1994 Finnish presidential election

Ahtisaari's presidential campaign in Finland began when he was still a member of the council dealing with Bosnia. Finland's ongoing recession caused established political figures to lose public support, and the presidential elections were now direct, instead of being conducted through an electoral college. In 1993, Ahtisaari accepted the candidacy of the Social Democratic Party. His politically untarnished image was a major factor in the election, as was his vision of Finland as an active participant in international affairs. Ahtisaari narrowly won over his second round opponent, Elisabeth Rehn of the Swedish People's Party. During the campaign, there were rumours spread by some political opponents of Ahtisaari that he had a drinking problem or that he had knowingly accepted a double salary from the Finnish Foreign Ministry and from the United Nations while trying to negotiate an end to the Bosnian War. Ahtisaari denied both allegations and no firm proof of them has emerged. During the three-week campaign between the two rounds of presidential elections, Ahtisaari was praised by his supporters for being more compassionate towards the many unemployed Finns than Rehn, who as Defence Minister had to officially support the Aho government's strict economic policies. A minor controversy arose during a town hall-style presidential debate in Lappeenranta, southeastern Finland, when an apparently born-again Christian woman in the audience asked Rehn what her relationship with Jesus was. Rehn replied that she had personally no proof that Jesus had been a historical person. Ahtisaari ducked a precise answer by stating that he trusted the Lutheran confession even on this issue.[15][16][17]

His term as president began with a schism within the Centre Party government led by prime minister Esko Aho, who did not approve of Ahtisaari's being actively involved in foreign policy. There was also some controversy over Ahtisaari's speaking out on domestic issues such as unemployment. He travelled extensively in Finland and abroad, and was nicknamed "Matka-Mara" ("Travel-Mara", Mara being a common diminutive form of Martti). His monthly travels throughout the country and his meetings with ordinary citizens (the so-called maakuntamatkat or "provincial trips") nonetheless greatly enhanced his political popularity. Ahtisaari kept his campaign promise to visit one Finnish historical province every month during his presidency. He also donated some thousands of Finnish marks per month to the unemployed people's organisations, and a few thousand Finnish marks to the Christian social organisation of the late lay preacher and social worker Veikko Hursti.[18][19]

Ahtisaari favoured pluralism and religious tolerance publicly. Privately, he and his wife practise their Christian faith. Contrary to some of his predecessors and his successor as the Finnish President, Ahtisaari ended all of his New Year's speeches by wishing the Finnish people God's blessing.[20]

In January 1998 Ahtisaari was criticized by some NGOs, politicians and notable cultural figures because he awarded medals of honour to the Forest Minister of Indonesia and to the main owner of the Indonesian RGM Company, a parent company of the April Company. The April Company was criticized by non-governmental organisations for destroying rain forests, and Indonesia itself was criticized heavily for human right violations, especially in East Timor. Ahtisaari's party chairman Erkki Tuomioja said that giving medals was questionable since he feared the act may tarnish the public image of Finnish human rights policy. Students of the arts had demonstrations in Helsinki against the decision to give medals.[21][22]

President Ahtisaari supported Finland's entry into the European Union, and in a 1994 referendum, 57 percent of Finnish voters were in favour of EU membership.[23] He later stated that if Finland had not voted to join the EU he would have resigned.[24] During Ahtisaari's term as president, Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton met in Helsinki. He also negotiated alongside Viktor Chernomyrdin with Slobodan Milošević to end the fighting in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo in 1999.

Often encountering resistance from the Finnish parliament, which preferred a more cautious foreign policy, as well as from within his own party, Ahtisaari did not seek re-election in 2000. He wanted the Social Democrats to re-nominate him for the presidency without opposition, but two opponents signed up for the party's presidential primary.[25] Ahtisaari was the last "strong president", before the 2000 constitution reduced the president's powers. He was succeeded by the foreign minister Tarja Halonen.

Post-presidential career

Ahtisaari mediating the Kosovo crisis with US and Russian Defense Ministers in 1999

In Finnish politics, Ahtisaari has stressed how important it is for Finland to join NATO.[26] Ahtisaari has argued that Finland should be a full member of NATO and the EU in order "to shrug off once and for all the burden of Finlandization".[27] He believes politicians should file application and make Finland a member. He says that the way Finnish politicians avoid expressing their opinion is disturbing.[28] He has noted that the so-called "NATO option" (acquiring membership when Finland is threatened) is an illusion, making an analogy to trying to obtain fire insurance when the fire has already started.[29]

Since leaving office, Ahtisaari has held positions in various international organisations. In 2000, he became Chairman of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group,[30] an NGO to which he committed $100,000 in government funding in 1994 one month after becoming elected President of Finland.[31] He remains Chairman Emeritus.[32]

Ahtisaari also founded the independent Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) with the goal of developing and sustaining peace in troubled areas. On 1 December 2000, Ahtisaari was awarded the J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding by the Fulbright Association in recognition of his work as peacemaker in some of the world's most troubled areas. In May 2017 Ahtisaari suggested as new CMI leader Alexander Stubb a Finnish politician representing Finnish conservatives i.e. the National Coalition Party.[33]

In 2000–01, Ahtisaari and Cyril Ramaphosa inspected IRA weapons dumps for the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, as part of the Northern Ireland peace process.[34]

In 2005, Ahtisaari successfully led peace negotiations between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government through his non-governmental organization CMI. The negotiations ended on 15 August 2005 with the signing of the Helsinki MOU on disarmament of GAM rebels, the dropping of GAM demands for an independent Aceh, and a withdrawal of Indonesian forces.

In November 2005, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Ahtisaari as Special Envoy for the Kosovo status process which was to determine whether Kosovo, having been administered by the United Nations since 1999, should become independent or remain a province of Serbia. In early 2006, Ahtisaari opened the UN Office of the Special Envoy for Kosovo (UNOSEK) in Vienna, Austria, from where he conducted the Kosovo status negotiations. Those opposed to Ahtisaari's settlement proposal, which involved an internationally monitored independence for Kosovo, sought to discredit him. Allegations made by Balkan media sources of corruption and improper conduct by Ahtisaari were described by US State Department spokesman Tom Casey as "spurious", adding that Ahtisaari's plan is the "best solution possible" and has the "full endorsement of the United States".[35] The New York Times suggested that this criticism of Ahtisaari on the part of the Serbs had led to the "bogging down" of the Kosovo status talks.[36] In November 2008, Serbian media reported Pierre Mirel, director of the EU enlargement commission's western Balkans division as saying: "The EU has accepted that the deployment of EULEX has to be approved by the United Nations Security Council, and that the mission has to be neutral and will not be related to the Ahtisaari plan," Mirel said, following his meeting with Serbia's vice-president Bozidar Djelic.[37]

Martti Ahtisaari in 2008

In July 2007, however, when the EU, Russia and the United States agreed to find a new format for the talks, Ahtisaari announced that he regarded his mission as over. Since neither the UN nor the troika had asked him to continue mediations in the face of Russia's persistent refusal to support independence for Kosovo, he said he would nonetheless be willing to take on "a role as consultant", if requested.[38] After a period of uncertainty and mounting tension, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008.[39]

In his work, he has emphasised the importance of the United States in the peace process, stating that "There can be no peace without America."[40]

Ahtisaari was chairman of the Interpeace Governing Council from 2000 to 2009.[41][42][43] Since 2009, Ahtisaari has been Chairman Emeritus and a Special Advisor.[44]

Ahtisaari is board director of the ImagineNations Group.

In 2008 Ahtisaari was awarded an honorary degree by University College, London. That same year he received the 2007 UNESCO Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize, for "his lifetime contribution to world peace".[45]

In September 2009 Ahtisaari joined The Elders,[46] a group of independent global leaders who work together on peace and human rights issues. He travelled to the Korean Peninsula with fellow Elders Gro Harlem Brundtland, Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson in April 2011,[47] and to South Sudan with Robinson and Archbishop Desmond Tutu in July 2012.[48]

Ahtisaari is a member of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation's Ibrahim Prize Committee. He is also a member of the board of the European Council on Foreign Relations.[49]

Syria conflict

In August 2012, Ahtisaari opined on the sectarian violence in Syria[4] and was mentioned as a possible replacement as Joint Envoy there to succeed former Secretary-General Kofi Annan.[50][51] However, Ahtisaari then told the Finnish state broadcaster YLE that "he wished the mission would fall on someone else"[52] which it ultimately did in the person of Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister and longtime U.N. diplomat.[53]

In late 2015, Martti Ahtisaari reiterated charges he already had made in an interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle in early 2013 against members of the UN security council on the obstruction of a political solution to the escalating conflict in Syria.[54] Ahtisaari said in an interview in September 2015 that he held talks about Syria with envoys from the five permanent members of the UN security council in February 2012. According to Ahtisaari, Vitaly Churkin, Russian ambassador to the United Nations, laid out three points during a meeting with him, which included not arming the Syrian opposition, commencing talks between Syrian president Assad and the opposition and finding "an elegant way for Assad to step aside". But the US, Britain and France subsequently ignored the proposal. Ahtisaari said in the interview: "Nothing happened because I think all these, and many others, were convinced that Assad would be thrown out of office in a few weeks so there was no need to do anything."[55]

Contraction of COVID-19

On 24 March 2020, amid the large-scale outbreak of COVID-19, it was announced that Ahtisaari had tested positive for the disease.[56] His spouse, Eeva Ahtisaari, was diagnosed with the same virus on 21 March. Eeva Ahtisaari attended the International Women's Day concert on 8 March at the Helsinki Music Centre while infected.[57]

On 14 April 2020 it was announced that Martti and Eeva Ahtisaari are recovering from the coronavirus infection.[58]

Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Peace Prize 2008

On 10 October 2008 Ahtisaari was announced as that year's recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Ahtisaari received the prize on 10 December 2008 at Oslo City Hall in Norway. Ahtisaari twice worked to find a solution in Kosovo – first in 1999 and again between 2005 and 2007. He also worked with others this year to find a peaceful solution to the problems in Iraq, the Committee said. According to the Committee, Ahtisaari and his group, Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), also contributed to resolving other conflicts in Northern Ireland, Central Asia, and the Horn of Africa.[59][60][61] Ahtisaari invited Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Stubb and others to his Nobel event, but not President Halonen.[62]

According to the memoir of the former secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Geir Lundestad, former Foreign Minister and UN ambassador Keijo Korhonen, who was strongly against awarding the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize to Ahtisaari, wrote a letter to the committee which negatively portrayed Ahtisaari as a person and his merits in international conflict zones.[63]

Honours

Coat of Arms of Martti Ahtisaari
Armiger	Martti Ahtisaari
Adopted	1994
Motto	Se pystyy ken uskaltaa ("The one who dares, can")

National Honours

•  Finland: Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Liberty
•  Finland: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland
•  Finland: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion of Finland
•  Finland: Order of Holy Lamb
•  Finland: Medal of St.Henrik

Foreign Honours

•  Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Elephant (1994)
•  Norway: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav (1994)
•  Iceland: He & his wife - Grand Crosses of the Order of the Falcon (26 September 1995)[64]
•  Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog
•  Estonia: Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana & wife: 1st Class (May 1995)[65]
•  Sweden: Knight with Collar (1996) of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (1994) and his knight's coat of arms[66]
•  Italy: Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (1997)
•  Latvia: 1st Class of the Order of the Three Stars
•  Lithuania: Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great (01/1996)[67]
•  South Africa: Grand Cross of the Order of Good Hope (1997)[68]
•  South Africa: Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo
•  Romania: Sash of the Order of the Star of Romania
•  Poland: Order of the White Eagle (Poland) (1997)
•  Spain: Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain)
•  Hungary: Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
•  France: Legion of Honour
•  Turkey: Order of State of Republic of Turkey (1999)
•  United Kingdom: Order of the Bath
•  Australia: Order of Australia
•  Argentina: Order of May
•  Belgium: Order of Leopold
•  Brazil: Order of the Southern Cross
•  Chile: Order Of Merit
•  United Arab Emirates: Medal of Federation
•  Greece: Order of the Saviour
•  Kuwait: Mubarak al-Kabir of Kuwait
•  Malaysia: Honorary Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm (1995)[69]
•  Mexico: Order of Eagle of the Aztecs
•  USA: Gold Medal of The American-Scandinavian Foundation (2006)[70]
•  Netherlands: Order of Lion of The Netherlands
•  Ukraine: Order of Yaroslav the Wise
•  Indonesia: Bintang Republik Indonesia Utama (Order of Republic of Indonesia, 3rd Class)[71]

Awards

• 1995: Zamenhof Prize for International Understanding, of the World Esperanto Association
• 1998: Honorary doctorate from Helsinki University of Technology,[72] and from National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
• 2000: J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding
• 2000: Freedom medal[73]
• 2000:  Germany: Hessian Peace Prize[74][75]
• 2004: OR Tambo Award
• 2007:  Germany: Manfred Wörner Medal of the German Ministry of Defense[70]
• 2007: Honorary degree, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland
• 2008: Delta Prize for Global Understanding
• 2008: Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize
• 2008: Nobel Peace Prize
• 2008:  Netherlands: Geuzenpenning
• 2011: Honorary degree, University of Calgary, Canada

See also

• List of peace activists

Notes

1. Courtesy title in Finland for former Presidents of the Republic
2. "Eeva Ahtisaari".
3. "The Nobel Peace Prize 2008".
4. "Ahtisaari, Tuomioja, Haavisto weigh in on Syria", yle.fi, 3 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-05.
5. Bryant, Lisa (10 October 2008). "Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari Wins Nobel Peace Prize". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 17 November 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
6. President Ahtisaari's ancestors Archived 3 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine a study by Suomen Sukututkimusseura (the Finnish genealogy society).
7. "History of the Embassy of Finland, Dar es Salaam". Embassy of Finland, Dar es Salaam. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
8. "About Martti Ahtisaari". CMI. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
9. Shaky start on the road to independence
10. Glenys Kinnock (1990). Namibia: Birth of a Nation. Quartet Books Ltd. p. 19.
11. "On Resumption: 28th September 2000 - Day 17". Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2007.
12. "Outstanding achievement award". Archived from the original on 19 July 2010.
13. Sainio, Pentti: Operaatio Ahtisaari. Art House, 1993.
14. The Independent On Sunday, 1991 May 19.
15. Mitä Missä Milloin — Kansalaisen vuosikirja 1995 ("What Where When — Citizen's Yearbook 1995"), Helsinki: Otava Publications Ltd., 1994.
16. Anja Snellman and Saska Saarikoski, "The Third Round" / Kolmas kierros, published in Finland in 1994.
17. Pertti Sainio, "Secret Operation Ahtisaari" / Operaatio Salainen Ahtisaari, published in Finland in 1993.
18. Mitä Missä Milloin — Kansalaisen vuosikirjat 1995, 2000, 2001 ("What Where When — Citizen's Yearbooks 1995, 2000, 2001")
19. Veikko Hursti, "For I Was Hungry ..." / Sillä minun oli nälkä ... (autobiography), published in Finland in 1997.
20. The speeches are available in electronic form from Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE's Living Archives, "Maaseudulta maailmalle -sarja kertoo vuosien 1956–1966 Suomesta". Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
21. Helsingin Sanomat, kotimaa, 1998 January 15, p. 1, "Mielenosoitus: Kunniamerkit takaisin Indonesiasta".
22. Helsingin Sanomat, Talous, 2000 March 21, p. 3., "Ahtisaari saanee vastaehdokkaan UPM:n hallitus-vaaliin" (tässä jutussa on vain Luontoliiton osuus).
23. Mitä Missä Milloin — Kansalaisen vuosikirja 1996 ("What Where When — Citizen's Yearbook 1996"), Helsinki: Otava Publications Ltd., 1995.
24. "President would have resigned if Finland had vetoed EU membership". Yle Uutiset.
25. Mitä Missä Milloin — Kansalaisen vuosikirja 2000 ("What Where When — Citizen's Yearbook 2000"), Helsinki: Otava Publications Ltd., 1999.
26. Martti Ahtisaari Wants Finland in Nato Archived 29 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. YLE. 2008-10-11
27. "Former President Ahtisaari: NATO membership would put an end to Finlandisation murmurs". Helsingin Sanomat. 15 December 2003. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
28. Ahtisaari NATO-kansanäänestystä vastaan Archived 23 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine. MTV3
29. "Presidentti Martti Ahtisaari 23.11.2007: Nato-optio on illuusio".
30. Barbara Crossette (1 December 2008). "Peace Prize Comes With Criticism". The Nation. Retrieved 5 April 2019. After his term as president of Finland ended in 2000, Ahtisaari became board chairman of the International Crisis Group, an independent analysis and advocacy organization based in Brussels.
31. Stephen Solarz (2010). "Transforming an Idea into Reality". 1995-2010 Fifteen Years on the Front Lines - International Crisis Group. ICG. p. 12. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Martti Ahtisaari, had just been elected President of Finland a month earlier. When I explained to Martti what we had in mind, he immediately and graciously offered to provide $100,000 in funding from Finland
32. "Board of Trustees". International Crisis Group. ICG. 22 July 2016. Archived from the original on 5 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2019. Chairmen Emeriti - Martti Ahtisaari
33. Ahtisaari luopuu perustamansa CMI-järjestön puheenjohtajuudesta – ehdottaa seuraajakseen Alexander Stubbia YLE 9.5.2017
34. "Reports of the Weapons Inspectors". Reports and Statements by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). CAIN. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
35. Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs (13 July 2007). "Daily Press Briefing -- July 13". 2001-2009.state.gov.
36. The New York Times – Serbs Criticize UN Mediator, Further Bogging Down Kosovo Talks Archived 4 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
37. "EU accepts Belgrade's conditions for EULEX". Sofia Echo. 7 November 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
38. "Contact Group Meets on Kosovo′s Future as Tensions Rise - Europe - DW.COM - 25.07.2007". DW.COM.
39. "US Pleased With Post-Independence Progress In Kosovo". Archived from the original on 3 August 2008.
40. Cord, David J. (2012). Mohamed 2.0. Helsingfors: Schildts & Söderströms. p. 156. ISBN 978-951-52-2898-7.
41. John A. Kufuor Foundation "Interpeace" Archived 28 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 27 January 2012
42. IDRC "IDRC Partner Awarded Nobel Peace Prize" Retrieved on 3 February 2012
43. Imagine Nations "Martti Ahtisaari" Archived 5 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 3 February 2012
44. Interpeace "Governing Council" Archived 1 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 27 January 2012
45. "Valtioneuvosto – Ahtisaari received the UNESCO Peace Prize". Archived from the original on 10 June 2011.
46. "Martti Ahtisaari joins The Elders". TheElders.org. 21 September 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
47. "Carter, 3 other ex-leaders to push for renewed Koreas talks". CNN.com. 27 April 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
48. "The Elders visit South Sudan in sombre mood and urge continued dialogue with Khartoum". TheElders.org. 6 July 2012. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
49. "European Council on Foreign Relations".
50. "General Assembly adopts Resolution on Syria", transcript of UK Ambassador Sir Mark Lyall Grant’s remarks at the 'stakeout' after adoption of the resolution, British UN Mission website, 3 August 2012. Ahtisaari's name only mentioned in a media question. No comment from Grant. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
51. "‘Crazy’ Enough to Take on Syria?" Archived 11 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 3 August 2012. Posted 2012-08-03.
52. "Ahtisaari Syyria-tehtävästä: Toivoisin, että se menisi jonnekin muualle". YLE Uutiset (in Finnish). 8 August 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
53. "UN: Algeria’s Brahimi will replace Annan in Syria", AP via New York Daily News, 17 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
54. Ahtisaari: "Sicherheitsrat ist schuld" Archived 19 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine, dw.com, 11 February 2013 (in German)
55. West 'ignored Russian offer in 2012 to have Syria's Assad step aside' Archived 8 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, theguardian.com, 15 September 2015
56. "Former President Martti Ahtisaari tests positive for coronavirus". Yle News. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
57. von Kraemer, Maria (21 March 2020). "Eeva Ahtisaari har smittats av coronaviruset" (in Swedish). Yle Svenska. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
58. Uusitalo, Kaisa: Presidenttipari parantumassa koronaviruksesta – Martti ja Eeva Ahtisaaren uusimmat koronavirusnäytteet negatiivisia, YLE 14 April 2020. Accessed on 16 April 2020.
59. "Ahtisaari finally wins his own Nobel Peace Prize". Aftenposten. 10 October 2008. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
60. "Nobel Peace Prize goes to peace broker Ahtisaari". Aftenposten. 10 October 2008. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
61. "The Nobel Peace Prize 2008 awarded to Martti Ahtisaari". Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation/TNC. The Norway Post. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
62. Presidentti Halosta ei kutsuttu Ahtisaaren Nobel-juhliin Archived 20 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Helsingin Sanomat
63. "Norjalaiskirja paljastaa: Keijo Korhonen yritti estää Martti Ahtisaaren Nobel-palkinnon". Verkkouutiset. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
64. Icelandic Presidency Website (Icelandic), Order of the Falcon, Martti & Eeva Ahtisaari Archived 13 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, 26 September 1995, Grand Cross with Collar & Grand Cross respectively
65. Estonian Presidency Website (Estonian), Estonian State Decorations, Martti Ahtisaari Archived 6 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine - Eeva Ahtisaari Archived 6 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine
66. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 2012-10-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
67. Lithuanian Presidency Archived 19 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Lithuanian Orders searching form
68. "1997 National Orders awards". Archived from the original on 15 October 2012.
69. "Bahagian Istiadat dan Urusetia Persidangan Antarabangsa". www.istiadat.gov.my.
70. CV of Martti Ahtisaari Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, cmi.fi
71. "Presiden Anugerahkan Bintang Utama Kepada Ahtisaari". Archived from the original on 4 April 2015.
72. "TKK Honorary Doctor Martti Ahtisaari to receive Nobel Peace Prize", Aalto University webpage, 13.10.2008. AU is successor to HUT/TKK. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
73. Four Freedoms Award#Freedom Medal
74. Laureates of the Hessian Peace Prize Archived 17 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine, hsfk.de
75. Dead link at Crisis Management Initiative website: "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 2008-10-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link).

External links

• Martti Ahtisaari's homepage
• Martti Ahtisaari's Project Syndicate op/eds
• Martti Ahtisaari on Nobelprize.org
• Ahtisaari Nobel Prize lecture
• ThisisFINLAND -Nobel recognition rewards peaceful resolutions
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Political offices
Preceded by Mauno Koivisto	President of Finland 1994–2000	Succeeded by Tarja Halonen
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Al Gore Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change	Laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize 2008	Succeeded by Barack Obama