Biography:Martti Ahtisaari

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Short description: President of Finland from 1994 to 2000
Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Ahtisaari 2012-04-16.jpg
Ahtisaari in 2012
10th President of Finland
In office
1 March 1994 – 1 March 2000
Prime Minister
  • Esko Aho
  • Paavo Lipponen
Preceded byMauno Koivisto
Succeeded byTarja Halonen
Ambassador of Finland to Tanzania
In office
1973–1977
Preceded bySeppo Pietinen
Succeeded byRichard Müller
Personal details
Born(1937-06-23)23 June 1937
Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg, Russia)
Died16 October 2023(2023-10-16) (aged 86)
Helsinki, Finland
Political partySocial Democratic
Spouse(s)
Eeva Hyvärinen (m. 1968)
ChildrenMarko
Alma materUniversity of Oulu
AwardsNobel Peace Prize (2008)
Signature
Military service
Branch/serviceFinnish Army
RankCaptain

Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (Finnish: [ˈmɑrtːi ˈʔoi̯ʋɑ ˈkɑleʋi ˈʔɑhtisɑːri] (About this soundlisten); 23 June 1937 – 16 October 2023) was a Finnish politician, the 10th president of Finland, from 1994 to 2000, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work.

Ahtisaari was a United Nations special envoy for Kosovo, charged with organizing the Kosovo status process negotiations. These negotiations aimed to resolve 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".[1] The Nobel statement said that Ahtisaari had played a prominent role in resolving serious and long-lasting conflicts, including ones in Namibia, Aceh (Indonesia),[2] Kosovo and Serbia, and Iraq.[3]

Youth and early career

4-year-old Ahtisaari, pictured on his birthday

Martti Ahtisaari was born in Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg, Russia) on 23 June 1937.[4] His father, Oiva Ahtisaari, whose grandfather Julius Marenius Adolfsen had emigrated with his parents to Kotka, Finland in 1872 from Tistedalen in Southern Norway,[5] took Finnish citizenship in 1929 and Finnicized his surname from Adolfsen in 1935.[6] Oiva was working as a NCO in the supply troops in Vyborg when Martti was born.[6]

The Continuation War (World War II) took Oiva Ahtisaari to the front as an non-commissioned officer army mechanic, while Martti's mother, Tyyne, moved to Kuopio with her son to escape immediate danger from the war in 1940.[7][6] Kuopio was where Ahtisaari spent most of his childhood,[8] eventually attending Kuopion Lyseo high school.[6]

In 1952, Martti Ahtisaari moved to Oulu with his family.[6] There he continued his education in high school, graduating in 1956.[8] He also joined the local YMCA.[6] After completing his military service (Ahtisaari held the rank of captain in the Finnish Army Reserve),[9] he began to study through a distance-learning course at Oulu teachers' college.[6] 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.[6]

In the summer of 1960, Ahtisaari signed the contract for the position of director of the Swedish Agency for International Development physical education boarding school in Karachi, Pakistan, after interviewing in Sweden and hearing about the offer announced by the YMCA in April of that year.[6][4] There, he also trained as a teacher.[6]

He returned to Finland in 1963 and began his studies in the Helsinki School of Economics and soon became the Executive Director of the Helsinki International Student Club and Student International Aid, where he made friends with Namibian Nickey Iyambo.[6] He also joined the international students' organisation AIESEC.[10] In 1965, he joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs[4] in its Bureau for International Development Aid, to set up the International Development Assistance Office together with Jaakko Iloniemi, which was a pioneering office, as the Finnish presence in international cooperation in the Third World was non-existent.[11] Ahtisaari remained in that office until 1972, where he served from 1971 as assistant to the director, a position he combined with his presence on the Government's Advisory Committee for Trade and Industry Affairs of Developing Countries.[12]

Diplomatic career

In the Namibian independence transition

Ahtisaari began his diplomatic career in 1973 when he became Finland's Ambassador to Tanzania, Zambia, Somalia and Mozambique, an office he held until 1977.[12][13][6] This new mission allowed him to get closer to East African affairs, monitoring from Dar es Salaam the independence process of Namibia and maintaining close contacts with South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO).[6] In 1977 he was recalled by the United Nations to succeed Seán MacBride as United Nations Commissioner for Namibia, a post he held until 1981, and as representative of Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim from 1978.[4][12]

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).[12] 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.[14] 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."[15]

Perhaps because of his reluctance to authorise this SADF deployment, Ahtisaari was alleged to have been targeted by the South Africa n 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.[16]

After the independence elections of 1989, Ahtisaari and his wife were made honorary Namibian citizens in 1992.[6] 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".[17]

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.[18][19][20][6]

Other roles

On 31 July 1991, he was appointed Secretary of State at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in the Esko Aho's government.[6][12] After the Gulf War, Ahtisaari headed a team tasked with reporting to the UN on changes in the situation and humanitarian needs.[6][12] The report did not meet these expectations and was believed to have eroded American support for Ahtisaari's candidacy for the UN Secretary-General.[6]

Between 1992 and 1993, Ahtisaari chaired the UN Conference on Yugoslavia's Working Group on Bosnia and Herzegovina and became the special assistant to Cyrus Vance, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Croatia.[12][6]

President of Finland (1994–2000)

Ahtisaari holding a press conference during the 1994 presidential election
Ahtisaari in 1997
Ahtisaari with Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin in 1997
Ahtisaari with Carlos Menem in 1997

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.[21][6][12] The Social Democratic Party of Finland's candidate to succeed Mauno Koivisto as President of Finland was decided in a primary between Ahtisaari and former Prime Minister and diplomat Kalevi Sorsa. Ahtisaari led in the polls against Sorsa, who was already a popular and experienced politician, and won the primaries on 16 May 1993 with 61% of the votes.[12][6]

After the primaries, Ahtisaari returned to his work in Geneva, and did not start his presidential campaign until the end of October.[6] Ahtisaari narrowly won over his second round opponent, Elisabeth Rehn of the Swedish People's Party.[12] 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.[22][23][24] He was sworn in on 1 March 1994.[12]

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.[25][26]

Ahtisaari favoured pluralism and religious tolerance publicly. Privately, he and his wife practised 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.[27]

In January 1998 Ahtisaari was criticized by some NGOs, politicians and notable cultural figures because he awarded Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland 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 rights 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.[28][29]

President Ahtisaari publicly supported Finland's entry into the European Union, and in a 1994 referendum, 57 percent of Finnish voters were in favour of EU membership.[9][30] He later stated that if Finland had not voted to join the EU he would have resigned.[31] The promotion of a European collective security system and Nordic cooperation, as well as a security policy without membership of NATO, were central to Ahtisaari's foreign policy.[6]

During Ahtisaari's term as president, Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton met in Helsinki.[32] He also negotiated alongside Viktor Chernomyrdin with Slobodan Milošević to end the fighting in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo in 1999.[33]

Ahtisaari's lack of restrained involvement in public affairs and his pronouncements on domestic and economic policy provoked reservations both in Parliament itself and in the Social Democratic Party of Finland, and led Ahtisaari not to stand for re-election in 2000, which was announced in April 1999, and also alleged that two members of the SDP also ran as candidates.[12][9] Ahtisaari was the last "strong president", before the 2000 constitution reduced the president's powers. He was succeeded by Tarja Halonen on 1 March 2000.[12]

Post-presidential life

Ahtisaari mediating the Kosovo crisis with U.S. and Russian defense ministers in 1999
Martti Ahtisaari at the World Economic Forum in 2000

In Finnish politics, Ahtisaari long stressed how important it is for Finland to join NATO.[34] Ahtisaari 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".[35] He believed politicians should file application and make Finland a member. He said that the way Finnish politicians avoided expressing their opinion was disturbing.[36] He also noted that the so-called "NATO option" (acquiring membership if Finland were to be threatened) was an illusion, making an analogy to trying to obtain fire insurance when the fire has already started.[37] Finland joined NATO in 2023.[38]

After leaving office, Ahtisaari held positions in various international organisations. In 2000, he became Chairman of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group,[39] an NGO to which he committed $100,000 in government funding in 1994 one month after becoming elected President of Finland.[40] He remained Chairman Emeritus.[41]

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.[42]

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.[43]

In 2003 Ahtisaari defended George W. Bush's attack to Iraq, describing it as humanitarian intervention, which incited criticism from professor of history Juha Sihvola.[44]

Agreement to end insurgency in Aceh signed in Helsinki, 2005

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".[45] 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.[46] 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.[47]

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.[48] After a period of uncertainty and mounting tension, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008.[49]

In his work, he emphasised the importance of the United States in the peace process, stating that "There can be no peace without America."[50]

Ahtisaari was chairman of the Interpeace Governing Council from 2000 to 2009.[51][52][53] Beginning in 2009, Ahtisaari was Chairman Emeritus and a Special Advisor.[54]

Ahtisaari was board director of the ImagineNations Group.[55]

That same year he received the 2007 UNESCO Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize, for "his lifetime contribution to world peace".[56]

In September 2009 Ahtisaari joined The Elders,[57] 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,[58] and to South Sudan with Robinson and Archbishop Desmond Tutu in July 2012.[59]

He was also a member of the board of the European Council on Foreign Relations.[60]

Syria conflict

Ahtisaari (first from left) with William Hague, Jimmy Carter, and Lakhdar Brahimi from The Elders group in London, 24 July 2013

In August 2012, Ahtisaari opined on the sectarian violence in Syria[2] and was mentioned as a possible replacement as Joint Envoy there to succeed former Secretary-General Kofi Annan.[61][62] However, Ahtisaari then told the Finnish state broadcaster YLE that "he wished the mission would fall on someone else"[63] which it ultimately did in the person of Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister and longtime U.N. diplomat.[64]

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.[65] 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."[66]

Personal life, health and death

Ahtisaari with his wife Eeva Ahtisaari (second from left), 1994
State funeral of Martti Ahtisaari

In 1968, he married Eeva Irmeli Hyvärinen,[67] who was studying history at the University of Helsinki and whom he met as a child at the Lyceum in Kuopio. They had one son, Marko Ahtisaari, who was born in 1969.[68]

On 24 March 2020, amid the large-scale outbreak of COVID-19, it was announced that Ahtisaari had tested positive for the disease.[69] His spouse, Eeva Ahtisaari, was diagnosed with the same virus on 21 March. Eeva Ahtisaari had attended the International Women's Day concert on 8 March at the Helsinki Music Centre while infected.[70] On 14 April 2020 it was announced that Martti and Eeva Ahtisaari were recovering from the coronavirus infection.[71]

On 2 September 2021, it was announced that Ahtisaari had Alzheimer's disease and had retired from public life.[72]

Ahtisaari died from complications of Alzheimer's disease in Helsinki, on 16 October 2023, at age 86.[73][74][75] His state funeral was held on 10 November 2023 in Helsinki Cathedral at 1 p.m., after which he was buried at the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.[76][77]

Honours

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.[78] 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.[79][80][81] Ahtisaari invited Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Stubb and others to his Nobel event, but not President Halonen.[82]

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.[83]

Coat of Arms of Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Ahtisaari Coat of Arms.svg
ArmigerMartti Ahtisaari
Adopted1994
MottoSe pystyy ken uskaltaa ("The one who dares, can")

National honours

  •  Finland:
    • FIN Order of the Holy Lamb BAR.svg Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Lamb[84]

Foreign honours

  •  Albania:
    • ALB National Flag Order.png National Flag Decoration (12 September 2016)[85]
  •  Argentina:
    • ARG Order of the Liberator San Martin - Grand Cross BAR.svg Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Liberator General San Martín (3 March 1997)[86]
  •  Estonia:
    • EST Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana - 1st Class BAR.svg Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana[87]
    • ISL Icelandic Order of the Falcon - Grand Cross BAR.png Collar with Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon (26 September 1995)[88]
  •  Indonesia:
    • Bintang Republik Indonesia Utama Ribbon1.gif Third Class of the Star of the Republic of Indonesia[89]
  •  Lithuania
    • LTU Order of Vytautas the Great - Grand Cross BAR.svg Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great (1996)[90]
  •  Malaysia:
    • MY Darjah Utama Seri Mahkota Negara (Crown of the Realm) - DMN.svg Honorary Recipient of the Most Exalted Order of the Crown of the Realm (1995)[91]
  •  Mexico:
    • MEX Order of the Aztec Eagle 1Class BAR.png Collar of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (1999)[92]
  •  Poland:
    • POL Order Orła Białego BAR.svg Knight of the Order of the White Eagle (1997)[93]
    • Ord.GoodHope-ribbon.gif Grand Cross of the Order of Good Hope (1997)[94]
  •  Spain:
    • Order of Isabella the Catholic - Sash of Collar.svg Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic[95]
  •  Sweden:
    • Order of the Seraphim - Ribbon bar.svg Knight with Collar (1996) of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (1994)[96]

Awards

  • 1995: Zamenhof Prize for International Understanding, of the World Esperanto Association
  • 1998: Honorary doctorate from Helsinki University of Technology,[97] and from National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
  • 2000: J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding[98]
  • 2000: Freedom medal[99]
  • 2000:  Germany: Hessian Peace Prize[100][101]
  • 2004: OR Tambo Award[17]
  • 2006: Gold Medal of The American-Scandinavian Foundation[102]
  • 2007:  Germany: Manfred Wörner Medal of the German Ministry of Defense[102]
  • 2008: Delta Prize for Global Understanding[103]
  • 2008: Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize[104]
  • 2008: Nobel Peace Prize[105]

See also

  • List of peace activists

References

  1. ↑ "The Nobel Peace Prize 2008". http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2008/. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Ahtisaari, Tuomioja, Haavisto weigh in on Syria" , yle.fi, 3 August 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  3. ↑ Bryant, Lisa (10 October 2008). "Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari Wins Nobel Peace Prize". Voice of America. http://voanews.com/english/archive/2008-10/2008-10-10-voa8.cfm. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Martti Ahtisaari". 16 October 2023. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martti-Ahtisaari. 
  5. ↑ Björkqvist, Jeannette (18 June 2017). "Ahtisaari i födelsedagsintervju 2017: Det är inte de mest radikala som har folkets stöd" (in sv). Hufvudstadsbladet. https://www.hbl.fi/artikel/2d16c2f6-9804-44f6-8aca-0e960c0f037b. 
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 6.22 "Ahtisaari, Martti" (in fi). https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/634. 
  7. ↑ President Ahtisaari's ancestors a study by Suomen Sukututkimusseura (the Finnish genealogy society).
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Heikkinen, Martti (6 August 2011). "Ahtisaari varttui Kuopion kasarmilla" (in fi). Helsingin Sanomat. https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000004821922.html. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Tapio, Ilari (16 October 2023). "Valtakuntien sovittelija, presidentti Martti Ahtisaari on poissa" (in fi). Turun Sanomat. https://www.ts.fi/uutiset/6133082. 
  10. ↑ "Why AIESEC". https://aiesecusc.org/why-aiesec. 
  11. ↑ Heino, Erja-Outi (17 October 2023). "Presidentti Martti Ahtisaari oli myös kehityksen uranuurtaja" (in fi). https://kehityslehti.fi/presidentti-martti-ahtisaari-oli-myos-kehityksen-uranuurtaja/. 
  12. ↑ 12.00 12.01 12.02 12.03 12.04 12.05 12.06 12.07 12.08 12.09 12.10 12.11 12.12 "Martti Ahtisaari" (in es). https://www.cidob.org/en/biografias_lideres_politicos/europa/finlandia/martti_ahtisaari. 
  13. ↑ "History of the Embassy of Finland, Dar es Salaam". Embassy of Finland, Dar es Salaam. http://www.finland.or.tz/public/default.aspx?nodeid=31642&contentlan=2&culture=en-US. 
  14. ↑ Shaky start on the road to independence
  15. ↑ Glenys Kinnock (1990). Namibia: Birth of a Nation. Quartet Books Ltd. p. 19. 
  16. ↑ "On Resumption: 28th September 2000 – Day 17". http://www.doj.gov.za./trc/amntrans/2000/200928ct.htm. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Outstanding achievement award". http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/orders_list.asp?show=226. 
  18. ↑ Sainio, Pentti: Operaatio Ahtisaari. Art House, 1993.
  19. ↑ The Independent On Sunday, 1991 May 19.
  20. ↑ "About Martti Ahtisaari". CMI. http://cmi.fi/martti-ahtisaari/about/. 
  21. ↑ Arter, David (1994). "The 1994 Finnish presidential election: Honesty was not the best policy!". West European Politics 17 (4): 190–192. doi:10.1080/01402389408425049. ISSN 0140-2382. 
  22. ↑ Mitä Missä Milloin — Kansalaisen vuosikirja 1995 ("What Where When — Citizen's Yearbook 1995"), Helsinki: Otava Publications Ltd., 1994.
  23. ↑ Anja Snellman and Saska Saarikoski, "The Third Round" / Kolmas kierros, published in Finland in 1994.
  24. ↑ Pertti Sainio, "Secret Operation Ahtisaari" / Operaatio Salainen Ahtisaari, published in Finland in 1993.
  25. ↑ Mitä Missä Milloin — Kansalaisen vuosikirjat 1995, 2000, 2001 ("What Where When — Citizen's Yearbooks 1995, 2000, 2001")
  26. ↑ Veikko Hursti, "For I Was Hungry ..." / Sillä minun oli nälkä ... (autobiography), published in Finland in 1997.
  27. ↑ The speeches are available in electronic form from Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE's Living Archives, "Maaseudulta maailmalle -sarja kertoo vuosien 1956–1966 Suomesta". http://www.yle.fi/elavaarkisto/. 
  28. ↑ Helsingin Sanomat, kotimaa, 1998 January 15, p. 1, "Mielenosoitus: Kunniamerkit takaisin Indonesiasta".
  29. ↑ Helsingin Sanomat, Talous, 2000 March 21, p. 3., "Ahtisaari saanee vastaehdokkaan UPM:n hallitus-vaaliin" (tässä jutussa on vain Luontoliiton osuus).
  30. ↑ Mitä Missä Milloin — Kansalaisen vuosikirja 1996 ("What Where When — Citizen's Yearbook 1996"), Helsinki: Otava Publications Ltd., 1995.
  31. ↑ "President would have resigned if Finland had vetoed EU membership". Yle Uutiset. 14 February 2015. http://yle.fi/uutiset/president_would_have_resigned_if_finland_had_vetoed_eu_membership/7806069. 
  32. ↑ Huhta, Kari (22 March 1997). "Huippukokous päättyi yhteisymmärrykseen viidestä turvallisuusjulistuksesta[. Clinton ja Jeltsin aikovat tiivistää Naton ja Venäjän yhteistyötä[.] Presidentti Clinton lähti illalla kotimatkalle"] (in fi). Helsingin Sanomat. https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000003609901.html. 
  33. ↑ Huhta, Kari (20 May 1999). "Tshernomyrdin yksin Helsingistä Belgradiin" (in fi). Helsingin Sanomat: p. C1. https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000003800968.html. 
  34. ↑ Martti Ahtisaari Wants Finland in Nato . YLE. 11 October 2008
  35. ↑ "Former President Ahtisaari: NATO membership would put an end to Finlandisation murmurs". Helsingin Sanomat. 15 December 2003. http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20031215IE6. 
  36. ↑ Ahtisaari NATO-kansanäänestystä vastaan . MTV3
  37. ↑ "Presidentti Martti Ahtisaari 23.11.2007: Nato-optio on illuusio". http://www.jyu.fi/ajankohtaista/arkisto/2007/11/tiedote-2007-11-23-19-56-06-561120/. 
  38. ↑ "Finland joins NATO as 31st Ally". https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_213448.htm. 
  39. ↑ Barbara Crossette (1 December 2008). "Peace Prize Comes With Criticism". The Nation. https://www.thenation.com/article/peace-prize-comes-criticism/. "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." 
  40. ↑ Stephen Solarz (2010). "Transforming an Idea into Reality". 1995–2010 Fifteen Years on the Front Lines – International Crisis Group. ICG. p. 12. https://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/misc/crisisgroup-15years.ashx. "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" 
  41. ↑ "Board of Trustees". ICG. 22 July 2016. https://www.crisisgroup.org/who-we-are/board. "Chairmen Emeriti – Martti Ahtisaari" 
  42. ↑ Ahtisaari luopuu perustamansa CMI-järjestön puheenjohtajuudesta – ehdottaa seuraajakseen Alexander Stubbia YLE 9 May 2017
  43. ↑ "Reports of the Weapons Inspectors". Reports and Statements by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). CAIN. http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/decommission/iicdreports.htm#wi. 
  44. ↑ "Oikeutettu Sota?" (in fi). 2003. http://arkisto.vihrealanka.fi/2003/33/kolumni.html. 
  45. ↑ Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs (13 July 2007). "Daily Press Briefing – July 13". https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2007/jul/88362.htm. 
  46. ↑ The New York Times – Serbs Criticize UN Mediator, Further Bogging Down Kosovo Talks .
  47. ↑ "EU accepts Belgrade's conditions for EULEX". The Sofia Echo. 7 November 2008. http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/eu-accepts-belgrade-s-conditions-for-eulex/id_32852/catid_68. 
  48. ↑ "Contact Group Meets on Kosovo′s Future as Tensions Rise – Europe – DW.COM – 25.07.2007". DW.COM. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2706414,00.html. 
  49. ↑ "US Pleased With Post-Independence Progress in Kosovo". http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-07-02-voa66.cfm. 
  50. ↑ Cord, David J. (2012). Mohamed 2.0. Helsingfors: Schildts & Söderströms. pp. 156. ISBN 978-951-52-2898-7. 
  51. ↑ John A. Kufuor Foundation "Interpeace" Retrieved on 27 January 2012
  52. ↑ IDRC "IDRC Partner Awarded Nobel Peace Prize" Retrieved on 3 February 2012
  53. ↑ Imagine Nations "Martti Ahtisaari" Retrieved on 3 February 2012
  54. ↑ Interpeace "Governing Council" Retrieved on 27 January 2012
  55. ↑ "President Martti Ahtisaari | Leadership Team". ImagineNations Group. http://www.imaginenations.org/bios/directors/president-martti-ahtisaari. 
  56. ↑ "Valtioneuvosto – Ahtisaari received the UNESCO Peace Prize". http://www.valtioneuvosto.fi/ajankohtaista/tiedotteet/tiedote/en.jsp?toid=2213&c=0&moid=2217&oid=240323. 
  57. ↑ "Martti Ahtisaari joins The Elders". TheElders.org. 21 September 2009. http://theelders.org/article/martti-ahtisaari-joins-elders. 
  58. ↑ "Carter, 3 other ex-leaders to push for renewed Koreas talks". CNN.com. 27 April 2011. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/27/north.korea.elders.visit/index.html. 
  59. ↑ "The Elders visit South Sudan in sombre mood and urge continued dialogue with Khartoum". TheElders.org. 6 July 2012. http://www.theelders.org/article/elders-visit-south-sudan-sombre-mood-and-urge-continued-dialogue-khartoum. 
  60. ↑ "European Council on Foreign Relations". http://www.ecfr.eu/. 
  61. ↑ "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 3 August 2012.
  62. ↑ "'Crazy' Enough to Take on Syria?" , The New York Times, 3 August 2012. Posted 3 August 2012.
  63. ↑ "Ahtisaari Syyria-tehtävästä: Toivoisin, että se menisi jonnekin muualle" (in fi). YLE Uutiset. 8 August 2012. http://yle.fi/uutiset/ahtisaari_syyria-tehtavasta_toivoisin_etta_se_menisi_jonnekin_muualle/6248657. 
  64. ↑ "UN: Algeria's Brahimi will replace Annan in Syria", AP via New York Daily News, 17 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  65. ↑ Ahtisaari: "Sicherheitsrat ist schuld" , dw.com, 11 February 2013 (in German)
  66. ↑ West 'ignored Russian offer in 2012 to have Syria's Assad step aside' , theguardian.com, 15 September 2015
  67. ↑ "Eeva Ahtisaari". http://www.tpk.fi/ahtisaari/fin/henkilot/eeva_ahtisaari.cv.html.. 
  68. ↑ Merikallio, Katri (16 October 2023). "Martti Ahtisaarelle rauha oli tahdon asia" (in fi). Suomen Kuvalehti. https://suomenkuvalehti.fi/kotimaa/ahtisaari/?shared=1102376-57b0a4ba-1. 
  69. ↑ "Former President Martti Ahtisaari tests positive for coronavirus". Yle News. 24 March 2020. https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/former_president_martti_ahtisaari_tests_positive_for_coronavirus/11272561. 
  70. ↑ von Kraemer, Maria (21 March 2020). "Eeva Ahtisaari har smittats av coronaviruset" (in sv). Yle Svenska. https://svenska.yle.fi/artikel/2020/03/21/eeva-ahtisaari-har-smittats-av-coronaviruset. 
  71. ↑ Uusitalo, Kaisa: Presidenttipari parantumassa koronaviruksesta – Martti ja Eeva Ahtisaaren uusimmat koronavirusnäytteet negatiivisia , YLE 14 April 2020. Accessed on 16 April 2020.
  72. ↑ "Former President Ahtisaari retires from public life following Alzheimer's diagnosis". Yle News. 2 September 2021. https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/former_president_ahtisaari_retires_from_public_life_following_alzheimers_diagnosis/12083327. 
  73. ↑ Anne Kauranen (16 October 2023). "Finnish Nobel Peace laureate and former president Ahtisaari dies at 86". Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/finnish-nobel-peace-laureate-ahtisaari-dies-86-2023-10-16/. 
  74. ↑ Cowell, Alan (16 October 2023). "Martti Ahtisaari, Finnish Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Dies at 86". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/16/world/europe/martti-ahtisaari-dead.html. Retrieved 16 October 2023. 
  75. ↑ "Martti Ahtisaari obituary". The Times. 18 October 2023. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/martti-ahtisaari-obituary-nkpkgnrrx. 
  76. ↑ "State funeral of President Martti Ahtisaari to be held in Helsinki on St Martin's Day, 10 November". Finnish Government. 18 October 2023. https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/10616/state-funeral-of-president-martti-ahtisaari-to-be-held-in-helsinki-on-st-martin-s-day-10-november. 
  77. ↑ Hyttinen, Tuomas (18 October 2023). "Presidentti Ahtisaaren valtiolliset hautajaiset pidetään Martin päivänä 10. marraskuuta" (in fi). Yle. https://yle.fi/a/74-20055779. 
  78. ↑ "The Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony 2008" (in en-US). https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/the-nobel-peace-prize-award-ceremony-2008/. 
  79. ↑ "Ahtisaari finally wins his own Nobel Peace Prize". Aftenposten. 10 October 2008. http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2705432.ece. 
  80. ↑ "Nobel Peace Prize goes to peace broker Ahtisaari". Aftenposten. 10 October 2008. http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2704892.ece. 
  81. ↑ "The Nobel Peace Prize 2008 awarded to Martti Ahtisaari". The Norway Post. Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation/TNC. 10 October 2008. http://www.norwaypost.no/cgi-bin/norwaypost/imaker?id=201245.  [|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
  82. ↑ Presidentti Halosta ei kutsuttu Ahtisaaren Nobel-juhliin . Helsingin Sanomat
  83. ↑ "Norjalaiskirja paljastaa: Keijo Korhonen yritti estää Martti Ahtisaaren Nobel-palkinnon". Verkkouutiset. 18 September 2015. http://www.verkkouutiset.fi/kotimaa/ahtisaari%20lundestad-41035. 
  84. ↑ "Pyhän Karitsan suurristi Ahtisaarelle" (in fi). Helsingin Sanomat: p. A 4. 22 February 1995. https://nakoislehti.hs.fi/b9d42152-fa40-4c06-bbb6-5f78ddf8fd2a/4. 
  85. ↑ "Dekorata e flamurit kombëtar" (in en-US). https://president.al/en/dekorimet/dekorata-e-flamurit-kombetar-5/. 
  86. ↑ "Menem recibió al primer mandatario de Finlandia" (in es). 4 March 1997. https://www.lanacion.com.ar/politica/menem-recibio-al-primer-mandatario-de-finlandia-nid64625/. 
  87. ↑ Estonian Presidency Website (Estonian), Estonian State Decorations, Martti Ahtisaari – Eeva Ahtisaari
  88. ↑ Icelandic Presidency Website (Icelandic), Order of the Falcon, Martti & Eeva Ahtisaari , 26 September 1995, Grand Cross with Collar & Grand Cross respectively
  89. ↑ "Presiden Anugerahkan Bintang Utama Kepada Ahtisaari". http://www.antaranews.com/print/40353/presiden-anugerahkan-bintang-utama-kepada-ahtisaari. 
  90. ↑ "Apdovanotų asmenų duomenų bazė" (in lt). https://www.lrp.lt/lt/prezidento-veikla/apdovanojimai/apdovanotu-asmenu-duomenu-baze/27252?sqid=324dedfb248c97cabdd7276c05a297f53c0e3f18. 
  91. ↑ "Bahagian Istiadat dan Urusetia Persidangan Antarabangsa". http://www.istiadat.gov.my/index.php/component/semakanlantikanskp/. 
  92. ↑ "ACUERDO por el que se otorga al excelentísimo señor Martti Ahtisaari, la Condecoración Orden Mexicana del Aguila Azteca, en grado de Gran Collar." (in es). https://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=4944072&fecha=19/02/1999#gsc.tab=0. 
  93. ↑ "Pokojowy Nobel dla mistrza mediacji" (in pl). https://www.rp.pl/nauka/art15998321-pokojowy-nobel-dla-mistrza-mediacji. 
  94. ↑ "1997 National Orders awards". http://www.info.gov.za/aboutgovt/orders/recipients/1997.htm. 
  95. ↑ "BOE-A-1999-2504 Real Decreto 174/1999, de 29 de enero, por el que se concede el Collar de la Orden de Isabel la Católica a su excelencia señor Martti Ahtisaari, Presidente de la República de Finlandia.". https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-1999-2504. 
  96. ↑ "Archived copy". http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/2283/ahtisaariuu8.png. 
  97. ↑ "TKK Honorary Doctor Martti Ahtisaari to receive Nobel Peace Prize"[yes|permanent dead link|dead link}}], Aalto University webpage, 13 October 2008. AU is successor to HUT/TKK. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  98. ↑ "Martti Ahtisaari". https://fulbright.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2000-Martti-Ahtisaari.pdf. 
  99. ↑ Four Freedoms Award#Freedom Medal
  100. ↑ Laureates of the Hessian Peace Prize , hsfk.de
  101. ↑ Dead link at Crisis Management Initiative website: "CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation". http://www.cmi.fi/?content%3Dspeech%26id%3D11. .
  102. ↑ 102.0 102.1 CV of Martti Ahtisaari , cmi.fi
  103. ↑ "The Delta Prize for Global Understanding". https://deltachair.uga.edu/the-delta-prize-for-global-understanding/. 
  104. ↑ "Award ceremony of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize, UNESCO, 2 October 2008: address by Mr Martti Ahtisaari, Former President of the Republic of Finland, 2007 Prizewinner". https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187347. 
  105. ↑ "The Nobel Peace Prize 2008". https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2008/ahtisaari/facts/. 

External links

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



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