:Martti Ahtisaari

File:4-vuotias Martti Ahtisaari.jpg

Martti Ahtisaari was born in Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg, Russia) on 23 June 1937.{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martti-Ahtisaari|title=Martti Ahtisaari|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=16 October 2023 |access-date=21 October 2023|archive-date=16 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016092113/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martti-Ahtisaari|url-status=live}} His father, Oiva Ahtisaari, whose grandfather Julius Marenius Adolfsen had emigrated with his parents to Kotka, Finland in 1872 from Tistedalen in Southern Norway,{{cite news|url=https://www.hbl.fi/artikel/2d16c2f6-9804-44f6-8aca-0e960c0f037b|title=Ahtisaari i födelsedagsintervju 2017: Det är inte de mest radikala som har folkets stöd|work=Hufvudstadsbladet|date=18 June 2017|language=sv|first=Jeannette|last=Björkqvist|access-date=21 October 2023|archive-date=13 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813090429/https://www.hbl.fi/artikel/2d16c2f6-9804-44f6-8aca-0e960c0f037b|url-status=live}} took Finnish citizenship in 1929 and Finnicized his surname from Adolfsen in 1935.{{cite web|url=https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/634|title=Ahtisaari, Martti|website=Suomen kansallisbiografia (The National Biography of Finland)|language=fi|access-date=21 October 2023|archive-date=21 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231021045736/https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/634|url-status=live}} Oiva was working as a NCO in the supply troops in Viipuri when Martti was born.

The Continuation War (World War II) took Oiva Ahtisaari to the front as a 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.[http://www.genealogia.fi/vsk/44/v8-28.pdf President Ahtisaari's ancestors] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403003935/http://www.genealogia.fi/vsk/44/v8-28.pdf|date=3 April 2015}} a study by Suomen Sukututkimusseura (the Finnish genealogy society). Kuopio was where Ahtisaari spent most of his childhood,{{Cite web |title=Ahtisaari varttui Kuopion kasarmilla |last=Heikkinen |first=Martti |work=Helsingin Sanomat |date=6 August 2011 |access-date=23 August 2021 |url=https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000004821922.html |language=fi |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823034652/https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000004821922.html |url-status=live }} eventually attending Kuopion Lyseo high school.

In 1952, Martti Ahtisaari moved to Oulu with his family. There he continued his education in high school, graduating in 1956. He also joined the local YMCA. After completing his military service (Ahtisaari held the rank of captain in the Finnish Army Reserve),{{cite news|url=https://www.ts.fi/uutiset/6133082|title=Valtakuntien sovittelija, presidentti Martti Ahtisaari on poissa|work=Turun Sanomat|first=Ilari|last=Tapio|date=16 October 2023|language=fi|access-date=23 October 2023|archive-date=21 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231021080610/https://www.ts.fi/uutiset/6133082|url-status=live}} he began to study at Oulu teachers' college, attending the two-year course which enabled him to qualify as a primary-school teacher in 1959.

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. There, he also trained as a teacher.

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. He also joined the international students' organisation AIESEC.{{Cite web|url=https://aiesecusc.org/why-aiesec|title=Why AIESEC|website=AIESEC USC|access-date=23 October 2023|archive-date=24 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024002227/https://aiesecusc.org/why-aiesec|url-status=live}} In 1965, he joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs 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.{{cite web|url=https://kehityslehti.fi/presidentti-martti-ahtisaari-oli-myos-kehityksen-uranuurtaja/|title=Presidentti Martti Ahtisaari oli myös kehityksen uranuurtaja|website=Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland|first=Erja-Outi|last=Heino|date=17 October 2023|language=fi|access-date=23 October 2023|archive-date=24 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024002232/https://kehityslehti.fi/presidentti-martti-ahtisaari-oli-myos-kehityksen-uranuurtaja/|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.cidob.org/en/biografias_lideres_politicos/europa/finlandia/martti_ahtisaari|title=Martti Ahtisaari|website=Barcelona Centre for International Affairs|date=March 1994 |language=es}}

File:Martti Ahtisaari (1987 UN photo).jpg

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.{{cite news |title=History of the Embassy of Finland, Dar es Salaam |url=http://www.finland.or.tz/public/default.aspx?nodeid=31642&contentlan=2&culture=en-US |work=Embassy of Finland, Dar es Salaam |access-date=26 June 2016 |archive-date=13 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813183825/http://www.finland.or.tz/public/default.aspx?nodeid=31642&contentlan=2&culture=en-US |url-status=live }} 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). 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.

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.Shaky start on the road to independence 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."{{cite book

|title=Namibia: Birth of a Nation

|author=Glenys Kinnock

|publisher=Quartet Books Ltd

|year=1990

|page=19

|author-link=Glenys Kinnock

}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.doj.gov.za./trc/amntrans/2000/200928ct.htm|title=On Resumption: 28th September 2000 – Day 17|access-date=22 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916171009/http://www.doj.gov.za./trc/amntrans/2000/200928ct.htm|archive-date=16 September 2008|url-status=dead}}

After the independence elections of 1989, Ahtisaari and his wife were made honorary Namibian citizens in 1992. 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".{{Cite web|url=http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/orders_list.asp?show=226|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719021409/http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/orders_list.asp?show=226|url-status=dead|title=Outstanding achievement award|archive-date=19 July 2010}}

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.Sainio, Pentti: Operaatio Ahtisaari. Art House, 1993.The Independent On Sunday, 1991 May 19.{{cite news |title=About Martti Ahtisaari |url=http://cmi.fi/martti-ahtisaari/about/ |work=CMI |access-date=18 December 2019 |archive-date=20 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220114735/http://cmi.fi/martti-ahtisaari/about/ |url-status=live }}

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

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.

{{See also|1994 Finnish presidential election}}

File:Martti-Ahtisaari-1994.jpg

File:Finland's president Martti Ahtisaari's inaugural 1994 (JOKAOM13HeV aae-1).tif and his successor Martti Ahtisaari in 1994]]

File:President Bill Clinton with President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland and President Boris Yeltsin of Russia.jpg and Boris Yeltsin in 1997]]

File:Martti Ahtisaari with Carlos Menem.jpg 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.{{Cite journal|last=Arter|first=David|date=1994|title=The 1994 Finnish presidential election: Honesty was not the best policy!|journal=West European Politics|volume=17|issue=4|pages=190–192|doi=10.1080/01402389408425049|issn=0140-2382}} 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.

After the primaries, Ahtisaari returned to his work in Geneva, and did not start his presidential campaign until the end of October. 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.Mitä Missä Milloin — Kansalaisen vuosikirja 1995 ("What Where When — Citizen's Yearbook 1995"), Helsinki: Otava Publications Ltd., 1994.Anja Snellman and Saska Saarikoski, "The Third Round" / Kolmas kierros, published in Finland in 1994.Pertti Sainio, "Secret Operation Ahtisaari" / Operaatio Salainen Ahtisaari, published in Finland in 1993. He was sworn in on 1 March 1994.

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.Mitä Missä Milloin — Kansalaisen vuosikirjat 1995, 2000, 2001 ("What Where When — Citizen's Yearbooks 1995, 2000, 2001")Veikko Hursti, "For I Was Hungry ..." / Sillä minun oli nälkä ... (autobiography), published in Finland in 1997.

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.The speeches are available in electronic form from Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE's Living Archives, {{cite web|url=http://www.yle.fi/elavaarkisto/ |title=Maaseudulta maailmalle -sarja kertoo vuosien 1956–1966 Suomesta |access-date=7 February 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210035359/http://yle.fi/elavaarkisto/ |archive-date=10 February 2015}}

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.Helsingin Sanomat, kotimaa, 1998 January 15, p. 1, "Mielenosoitus: Kunniamerkit takaisin Indonesiasta".Helsingin Sanomat, Talous, 2000 March 21, p. 3., "Ahtisaari saanee vastaehdokkaan UPM:n hallitus-vaaliin" (tässä jutussa on vain Luontoliiton osuus).

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.Mitä Missä Milloin — Kansalaisen vuosikirja 1996 ("What Where When — Citizen's Yearbook 1996"), Helsinki: Otava Publications Ltd., 1995. He later stated that if Finland had not voted to join the EU he would have resigned.{{cite web|url=http://yle.fi/uutiset/president_would_have_resigned_if_finland_had_vetoed_eu_membership/7806069|title=President would have resigned if Finland had vetoed EU membership|work=Yle Uutiset|date=14 February 2015|access-date=14 February 2015|archive-date=17 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217031328/http://yle.fi/uutiset/president_would_have_resigned_if_finland_had_vetoed_eu_membership/7806069|url-status=live}} 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.

During Ahtisaari's term as president, Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton met in Helsinki.{{Cite web |title=Huippukokous päättyi yhteisymmärrykseen viidestä turvallisuusjulistuksesta[.] Clinton ja Jeltsin aikovat tiivistää Naton ja Venäjän yhteistyötä[.] Presidentti Clinton lähti illalla kotimatkalle |last=Huhta |first=Kari |work=Helsingin Sanomat |date=22 March 1997 |access-date=23 August 2021 |url=https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000003609901.html |language=fi |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823034654/https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000003609901.html |url-status=live }} He also negotiated alongside Viktor Chernomyrdin with Slobodan Milošević to end the fighting in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo in 1999.{{Cite news |last=Huhta |first=Kari |title=Tshernomyrdin yksin Helsingistä Belgradiin |newspaper=Helsingin Sanomat |date=20 May 1999 |access-date=23 August 2021 |url=https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000003800968.html |language=fi |page=C1 |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823034640/https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000003800968.html |url-status=live }}

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. 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.

File:Defense.gov News Photo 990617-D-2987S-003.jpg with U.S. and Russian defence ministers in 1999]]

File:Martti Ahtisaari at the World Economic Forum.jpg in 2000]]

In Finnish politics, Ahtisaari long stressed how important it is for Finland to join NATO.[http://yle.fi/uutiset/news/2008/10/martti_ahtisaari_wants_finland_in_nato_355246.html Martti Ahtisaari Wants Finland in Nato] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229203753/http://yle.fi/uutiset/news/2008/10/martti_ahtisaari_wants_finland_in_nato_355246.html |date=29 February 2012}}. YLE. 11 October 2008 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".{{cite news|url=http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20031215IE6|title=Former President Ahtisaari: NATO membership would put an end to Finlandisation murmurs|work=Helsingin Sanomat|date=15 December 2003|access-date=20 September 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205075236/http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20031215IE6|archive-date=5 December 2008}} He believed politicians should file application and make Finland a member. He said that the way Finnish politicians avoided expressing their opinions was disturbing.[http://www.mobioutlet.com/uutiset/arkisto.shtml/arkistot/kotimaa/2003/11/194916 Ahtisaari NATO-kansanäänestystä vastaan] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090723185206/http://www.mobioutlet.com/uutiset/arkisto.shtml/arkistot/kotimaa/2003/11/194916 |date=23 July 2009 }}. MTV3 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.jyu.fi/ajankohtaista/arkisto/2007/11/tiedote-2007-11-23-19-56-06-561120/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120804194006/http://www.jyu.fi/ajankohtaista/arkisto/2007/11/tiedote-2007-11-23-19-56-06-561120/|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 August 2012|title=Presidentti Martti Ahtisaari 23.11.2007: Nato-optio on illuusio}} Finland joined NATO on 4 April 2023, while Ahtisaari was still alive.{{cite web |title=Finland joins NATO as 31st Ally |url=https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_213448.htm |website=nato.int |access-date=5 April 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404142906/https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_213448.htm |url-status=live }}

After leaving office, Ahtisaari held positions in various international organisations. In 2000, he became Chairman of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group,{{cite news |last1=Barbara Crossette |title=Peace Prize Comes With Criticism |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/peace-prize-comes-criticism/ |access-date=5 April 2019 |work=The Nation |date=1 December 2008 |quote=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. |archive-date=6 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406182424/https://www.thenation.com/article/peace-prize-comes-criticism/ |url-status=dead }} an NGO to which he committed $100,000 in government funding in 1994 one month after becoming elected President of Finland.{{cite book |author1=Stephen Solarz |title=1995–2010 Fifteen Years on the Front Lines – International Crisis Group |date=2010 |publisher=ICG |page=12 |chapter-url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/misc/crisisgroup-15years.ashx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307075754/https://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/misc/crisisgroup-15years.ashx |archive-date=7 March 2013 |chapter=Transforming an Idea into Reality |quote=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|author1-link=Stephen Solarz }} He remained Chairman Emeritus.{{cite web |title=Board of Trustees |url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/who-we-are/board |website=International Crisis Group |date=22 July 2016 |publisher=ICG |access-date=5 April 2019 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190405175523/https://www.crisisgroup.org/who-we-are/board |archive-date=5 April 2019 |quote=Chairmen Emeriti – Martti Ahtisaari}}

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 a 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.[http://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9603162 Ahtisaari luopuu perustamansa CMI-järjestön puheenjohtajuudesta – ehdottaa seuraajakseen Alexander Stubbia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509151400/http://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9603162 |date=9 May 2017 }} YLE 9 May 2017

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.{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/decommission/iicdreports.htm#wi|title=Reports of the Weapons Inspectors|work=Reports and Statements by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD)|publisher=CAIN|access-date=11 October 2008|archive-date=6 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206185315/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/decommission/iicdreports.htm#wi|url-status=live}}

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.{{Cite web |title=Oikeutettu Sota? |url=http://arkisto.vihrealanka.fi/2003/33/kolumni.html |date=2003 |access-date=28 October 2015 |website=Vihreä Lanka |language=fi |archive-date=10 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510062004/http://arkisto.vihrealanka.fi/2003/33/kolumni.html |url-status=live }}

File:Perjanjian damai helsinki.jpg 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".{{Cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2007/jul/88362.htm|title=Daily Press Briefing – July 13|first=Bureau of Public Affairs|last=Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information|date=13 July 2007|website=2001-2009.state.gov|access-date=25 May 2019|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803213413/https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2007/jul/88362.htm|url-status=live}} 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.[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/02/world/europe/02kosovo.html?ex=1158984000&en=d4d08af1a6c4944b&ei=5070 The New York Times – Serbs Criticize UN Mediator, Further Bogging Down Kosovo Talks] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104172215/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/02/world/europe/02kosovo.html?ex=1158984000&en=d4d08af1a6c4944b&ei=5070 |date=4 January 2016 }}. 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.{{cite web

|url=http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/eu-accepts-belgrade-s-conditions-for-eulex/id_32852/catid_68

|title=EU accepts Belgrade's conditions for EULEX

|publisher=The Sofia Echo

|date=7 November 2008

|access-date=7 November 2008

|archive-date=12 January 2009

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|url-status=live

}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2706414,00.html|title=Contact Group Meets on Kosovo′s Future as Tensions Rise – Europe – DW.COM – 25.07.2007|work=DW.COM|access-date=23 August 2007|archive-date=18 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218033447/http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2706414,00.html|url-status=live}} After a period of uncertainty and mounting tension, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008.{{Cite web|url=http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-07-02-voa66.cfm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803222222/http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-07-02-voa66.cfm|url-status=dead|title=US Pleased With Post-Independence Progress in Kosovo|archive-date=3 August 2008}}

In his work, he emphasised the importance of the United States in the peace process, stating that "There can be no peace without America."{{cite book|last=Cord|first=David J.|title=Mohamed 2.0|title-link=Mohamed 2.0: Disruption Manifesto|publisher=Schildts & Söderströms|year=2012|isbn=978-951-52-2898-7|location=Helsingfors|pages=156}}

Ahtisaari was chairman of the Interpeace Governing Council from 2000 to 2009.John A. Kufuor Foundation [http://johnakufuorfoundation.org/interpeace.html "Interpeace"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111228071829/http://johnakufuorfoundation.org/interpeace.html |date=28 December 2011 }} Retrieved on 27 January 2012IDRC [https://web.archive.org/web/20151016222900/http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-131755-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html "IDRC Partner Awarded Nobel Peace Prize"] Retrieved on 3 February 2012Imagine Nations [http://www.imaginenations.org/bios/martti_ahtisaari.aspx "Martti Ahtisaari"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305220603/http://www.imaginenations.org/bios/martti_ahtisaari.aspx |date=5 March 2012 }} Retrieved on 3 February 2012

Beginning in 2009, Ahtisaari was Chairman Emeritus and a Special Advisor.Interpeace [http://www.interpeace.org/index.php/about-us/governing-council "Governing Council"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401160743/http://www.interpeace.org/index.php/about-us/governing-council |date=1 April 2015 }} Retrieved on 27 January 2012

Ahtisaari was board director of the ImagineNations Group.{{Cite web |title=President Martti Ahtisaari {{!}} Leadership Team |publisher=ImagineNations Group |access-date=23 August 2021 |url=http://www.imaginenations.org/bios/directors/president-martti-ahtisaari |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823034703/http://www.imaginenations.org/bios/directors/president-martti-ahtisaari |url-status=live }}

That same year he received the 2007 UNESCO Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize, for "his lifetime contribution to world peace".{{Cite web|url=http://www.valtioneuvosto.fi/ajankohtaista/tiedotteet/tiedote/en.jsp?toid=2213&c=0&moid=2217&oid=240323|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610202356/http://www.valtioneuvosto.fi/ajankohtaista/tiedotteet/tiedote/en.jsp?toid=2213&c=0&moid=2217&oid=240323|url-status=dead|title=Valtioneuvosto – Ahtisaari received the UNESCO Peace Prize|archive-date=10 June 2011}}

In September 2009 Ahtisaari joined The Elders,{{cite web |url=http://theelders.org/article/martti-ahtisaari-joins-elders |title=Martti Ahtisaari joins The Elders |publisher=TheElders.org |date=21 September 2009 |access-date=6 March 2013 |archive-date=24 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824114554/https://theelders.org/article/martti-ahtisaari-joins-elders |url-status=dead }} 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,{{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/27/north.korea.elders.visit/index.html |title=Carter, 3 other ex-leaders to push for renewed Koreas talks |publisher=CNN.com |date=27 April 2011 |access-date=6 March 2013 |archive-date=6 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110506084722/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/27/north.korea.elders.visit/index.html |url-status=dead }} and to South Sudan with Robinson and Archbishop Desmond Tutu in July 2012.{{cite web |url=http://www.theelders.org/article/elders-visit-south-sudan-sombre-mood-and-urge-continued-dialogue-khartoum |title=The Elders visit South Sudan in sombre mood and urge continued dialogue with Khartoum |publisher=TheElders.org |date=6 July 2012 |access-date=6 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118160808/https://www.theelders.org/article/elders-visit-south-sudan-sombre-mood-and-urge-continued-dialogue-khartoum |archive-date=18 November 2018 |url-status=dead}}

He was also a member of the board of the European Council on Foreign Relations.{{cite web|url=http://www.ecfr.eu/|title=European Council on Foreign Relations|access-date=19 September 2010|archive-date=14 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150314211756/http://www.ecfr.eu/|url-status=live}}

File:The Elders (9358747992).jpg, 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 and was mentioned as a possible replacement as Joint Envoy there to succeed former Secretary-General Kofi Annan.[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121017165403/http://ukun.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=PressS&id=796877582 "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.[http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/03/whos-crazy-enough-to-take-on-syria/ "'Crazy' Enough to Take on Syria?"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611020432/http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/03/whos-crazy-enough-to-take-on-syria/ |date=11 June 2015 }}, The New York Times, 3 August 2012. Posted 3 August 2012. However, Ahtisaari then told the Finnish state broadcaster YLE that "he wished the mission would fall on someone else"{{cite news|url=http://yle.fi/uutiset/ahtisaari_syyria-tehtavasta_toivoisin_etta_se_menisi_jonnekin_muualle/6248657|title=Ahtisaari Syyria-tehtävästä: Toivoisin, että se menisi jonnekin muualle|date=8 August 2012|work=YLE Uutiset|language=fi|access-date=11 August 2012|archive-date=9 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809163658/http://yle.fi/uutiset/ahtisaari_syyria-tehtavasta_toivoisin_etta_se_menisi_jonnekin_muualle/6248657|url-status=live}} which it ultimately did in the person of Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister and longtime U.N. diplomat.[https://archive.today/20130130042618/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-08-17/news/33252347_1_syria-envoy-arab-league-envoy-lakhdar-brahimi "UN: Algeria's Brahimi will replace Annan in Syria"], AP via New York Daily News, 17 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.

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.[http://www.dw.com/de/ahtisaari-sicherheitsrat-ist-schuld/a-16577293 Ahtisaari: "Sicherheitsrat ist schuld"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419213528/http://www.dw.com/de/ahtisaari-sicherheitsrat-ist-schuld/a-16577293 |date=19 April 2016 }}, dw.com, 11 February 2013 (in German) 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."[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/15/west-ignored-russian-offer-in-2012-to-have-syrias-assad-step-aside West 'ignored Russian offer in 2012 to have Syria's Assad step aside'] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008083307/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/15/west-ignored-russian-offer-in-2012-to-have-syrias-assad-step-aside |date=8 October 2016 }}, theguardian.com, 15 September 2015

File:Paavo Lipponen sekä Eeva ja Martti Ahtisaari vaalivalvojaisissa.jpg (second from left), 1994]]

File:Presidentti Ahtisaaren valtiolliset hautajaiset 10.11.2023 - 38.jpg]]

In 1968, he married Eeva Irmeli Hyvärinen,{{Cite web | url=http://www.tpk.fi/ahtisaari/fin/henkilot/eeva_ahtisaari.cv.html. | title=Eeva Ahtisaari | access-date=10 October 2008 | archive-date=21 October 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231021110240/https://www.presidentti.fi/ahtisaari/fin/henkilot/eeva_ahtisaari.cv.html | url-status=live }} 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.{{cite news|url=https://suomenkuvalehti.fi/kotimaa/ahtisaari/?shared=1102376-57b0a4ba-1|title=Martti Ahtisaarelle rauha oli tahdon asia|work=Suomen Kuvalehti|first=Katri|last=Merikallio|date=16 October 2023|language=fi|access-date=23 October 2023|archive-date=24 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024002232/https://suomenkuvalehti.fi/kotimaa/ahtisaari/?shared=1102376-57b0a4ba-1|url-status=live}}

On 24 March 2020, amid the large-scale outbreak of COVID-19, it was announced that Ahtisaari had tested positive for the disease.{{cite web|url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/former_president_martti_ahtisaari_tests_positive_for_coronavirus/11272561|title=Former President Martti Ahtisaari tests positive for coronavirus|publisher=Yle News|date=24 March 2020|access-date=24 March 2020|archive-date=25 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325065129/https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/former_president_martti_ahtisaari_tests_positive_for_coronavirus/11272561|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://svenska.yle.fi/artikel/2020/03/21/eeva-ahtisaari-har-smittats-av-coronaviruset|title=Eeva Ahtisaari har smittats av coronaviruset|first=Maria|last=von Kraemer|publisher=Yle Svenska|date=21 March 2020|access-date=24 March 2020|language=sv|archive-date=22 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322131853/https://svenska.yle.fi/artikel/2020/03/21/eeva-ahtisaari-har-smittats-av-coronaviruset|url-status=live}} On 14 April 2020 it was announced that Martti and Eeva Ahtisaari were recovering from the coronavirus infection.Uusitalo, Kaisa: [https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11304648 Presidenttipari parantumassa koronaviruksesta – Martti ja Eeva Ahtisaaren uusimmat koronavirusnäytteet negatiivisia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414215008/https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11304648 |date=14 April 2020 }}, YLE 14 April 2020. Accessed on 16 April 2020.

On 2 September 2021, it was announced that Ahtisaari had Alzheimer's disease and had retired from public life.{{cite web|url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/former_president_ahtisaari_retires_from_public_life_following_alzheimers_diagnosis/12083327|title=Former President Ahtisaari retires from public life following Alzheimer's diagnosis|publisher=Yle News|date=2 September 2021|access-date=2 September 2021|archive-date=2 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902133709/https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/former_president_ahtisaari_retires_from_public_life_following_alzheimers_diagnosis/12083327|url-status=live}}

File:Grave of Martti Ahtisaari.jpg

Ahtisaari died from complications of Alzheimer's disease in Helsinki, on 16 October 2023, at age 86.{{Cite news|author=Anne Kauranen|date=16 October 2023|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/finnish-nobel-peace-laureate-ahtisaari-dies-86-2023-10-16/|title=Finnish Nobel Peace laureate and former president Ahtisaari dies at 86|work=Reuters|access-date=16 October 2023|archive-date=16 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016080243/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/finnish-nobel-peace-laureate-ahtisaari-dies-86-2023-10-16/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/16/world/europe/martti-ahtisaari-dead.html|title = Martti Ahtisaari, Finnish Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Dies at 86|last = Cowell|first = Alan|date = 16 October 2023|accessdate = 16 October 2023|newspaper = The New York Times|url-access = limited|archive-date = 16 October 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231016140410/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/16/world/europe/martti-ahtisaari-dead.html|url-status = live}}{{cite news |title=Martti Ahtisaari obituary |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/martti-ahtisaari-obituary-nkpkgnrrx |access-date=18 October 2023 |work=The Times |date=18 October 2023 |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019164120/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/martti-ahtisaari-obituary-nkpkgnrrx |url-status=live }} 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.{{cite web|url=https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/10616/state-funeral-of-president-martti-ahtisaari-to-be-held-in-helsinki-on-st-martin-s-day-10-november|title=State funeral of President Martti Ahtisaari to be held in Helsinki on St Martin's Day, 10 November|publisher=Finnish Government|date=18 October 2023|access-date=18 October 2023|archive-date=18 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018092129/https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/10616/state-funeral-of-president-martti-ahtisaari-to-be-held-in-helsinki-on-st-martin-s-day-10-november|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://yle.fi/a/74-20055779|title=Presidentti Ahtisaaren valtiolliset hautajaiset pidetään Martin päivänä 10. marraskuuta|first=Tuomas|last=Hyttinen|work=Yle|date=18 October 2023|access-date=18 October 2023|language=fi|archive-date=18 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018073255/https://yle.fi/a/74-20055779|url-status=live}}

File:Nobel Peace Prize 2008 Martti Ahtisaari.jpg

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.{{Cite web |title=The Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony 2008 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/the-nobel-peace-prize-award-ceremony-2008/ |access-date=24 October 2023 |website=NobelPrize.org |date=June 2013 |language=en-US |archive-date=26 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026041324/https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/the-nobel-peace-prize-award-ceremony-2008/ |url-status=live }} Ahtisaari twice worked to find a solution in Kosovo – first in 1999 and again between 2005 and 2007. The committee said he also worked with others this year to find a peaceful solution to the problems in Iraq. 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.{{cite news|title=Ahtisaari finally wins his own Nobel Peace Prize|url=http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2705432.ece|publisher=Aftenposten|date=10 October 2008|access-date=13 October 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013034345/http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2705432.ece|archive-date=13 October 2008}}{{cite news|title=Nobel Peace Prize goes to peace broker Ahtisaari|url=http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2704892.ece|publisher=Aftenposten|date=10 October 2008|access-date=13 October 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010211922/http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2704892.ece|archive-date=10 October 2008}}{{cite news |title=The Nobel Peace Prize 2008 awarded to Martti Ahtisaari |url=http://www.norwaypost.no/cgi-bin/norwaypost/imaker?id=201245 |agency=Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation/TNC |work=The Norway Post|date=10 October 2008 |access-date=13 October 2008 }} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}} Ahtisaari invited Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Stubb and others to his Nobel event, but not President Halonen.[http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/artikkeli/Presidentti+Halosta+ei+kutsuttu+Ahtisaaren+Nobel-juhliin/1135241949683 Presidentti Halosta ei kutsuttu Ahtisaaren Nobel-juhliin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020060350/http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/artikkeli/Presidentti%2BHalosta%2Bei%2Bkutsuttu%2BAhtisaaren%2BNobel-juhliin/1135241949683 |date=20 October 2012 }}. Helsingin Sanomat

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.verkkouutiset.fi/kotimaa/ahtisaari%20lundestad-41035|title=Norjalaiskirja paljastaa: Keijo Korhonen yritti estää Martti Ahtisaaren Nobel-palkinnon|date=18 September 2015|publisher=Verkkouutiset|access-date=18 September 2015|archive-date=20 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920232031/http://www.verkkouutiset.fi/kotimaa/ahtisaari%20lundestad-41035|url-status=live}}{{Infobox coat of arms

|name = Coat of Arms of Martti Ahtisaari

|image = Martti Ahtisaari Coat of Arms.svg

|alt =

|image_width = 140

|middle =

|middle_width =90

|middle_caption =

|lesser =

|lesser_alt =

|lesser_width =45

|lesser_caption = Coat of arms

|image2 =

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|image3 =

|image3_alt =

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|image3_caption =

|armiger = Martti Ahtisaari

|year_adopted =1994

|crest =

|torse =

|shield =

|supporters =

|compartment =

|motto = Se pystyy ken uskaltaa ("The one who dares, can")

|orders =

|other_elements =

|earlier_versions =

|use =

|notes =

}}

• {{flag|Finland}}:
• 70px Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (1999)
• 70px Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Liberty
• 70px Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion of Finland
• 70x70px Saint Henry Cross
• 70x70px Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Lamb{{cite news|title=Pyhän Karitsan suurristi Ahtisaarelle|newspaper=Helsingin Sanomat|date=22 February 1995|page=A 4|url=https://nakoislehti.hs.fi/b9d42152-fa40-4c06-bbb6-5f78ddf8fd2a/4|language=fi|access-date=17 May 2023|archive-date=17 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517162627/https://nakoislehti.hs.fi/b9d42152-fa40-4c06-bbb6-5f78ddf8fd2a/4|url-status=live}}

• {{flag|Albania}}:
• 70px National Flag Decoration (12 September 2016){{Cite web|title=Dekorata e flamurit kombëtar|url=https://president.al/en/dekorimet/dekorata-e-flamurit-kombetar-5/|access-date=11 November 2020|website=Presidenti i Republikës së Shqipërisë|language=en-US|archive-date=11 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111114251/https://president.al/en/dekorimet/dekorata-e-flamurit-kombetar-5/|url-status=live}}
• {{flag|Australia}}:
• 70px Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia (2002)
• {{flag|Argentina}}:
• 70px Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Liberator General San Martín (3 March 1997){{Cite web |date=4 March 1997 |title=Menem recibió al primer mandatario de Finlandia |url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/politica/menem-recibio-al-primer-mandatario-de-finlandia-nid64625/ |access-date=16 October 2023 |website=LA NACION |language=es |archive-date=16 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016170544/https://www.lanacion.com.ar/politica/menem-recibio-al-primer-mandatario-de-finlandia-nid64625/ |url-status=live }}
• {{Flag|Belgium}}:
• 70px Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold
• {{Flag|Brazil}}:
• 70px Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross
• {{flag|Chile}}:
• 70px Collar of the Order of Merit
• {{flag|Denmark}}:
• 70px Knight of the Order of the Elephant (1994)
• 70px Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog{{cn|date=June 2023}}
• {{flag|Estonia}}:
• 70px Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra MarianaEstonian Presidency Website (Estonian), Estonian State Decorations, [http://www.president.ee/en/estonia/decorations/bearers.php?id=1 Martti Ahtisaari] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606061432/http://www.president.ee/en/estonia/decorations/bearers.php?id=1 |date=6 June 2013 }} – [http://www.president.ee/en/estonia/decorations/bearers.php?id=2 Eeva Ahtisaari] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606180739/http://www.president.ee/en/estonia/decorations/bearers.php?id=2 |date=6 June 2013 }}
• {{flag|France}}:
• 70px Grand Cross of the Order of Legion of Honour
• {{flag|Germany}}:
• 70px Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• {{Flag|Greece}}:
• 70px Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer
• {{flag|Hungary}}:
• 70px Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
• {{Flag|Iceland}}:
• 70px Collar with Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon (26 September 1995)Icelandic Presidency Website (Icelandic), Order of the Falcon, [http://falkadb.forseti.is/orduskra/fal03.php?term=Ahtisaari%2C+&sub=Leita Martti & Eeva Ahtisaari] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313042402/http://falkadb.forseti.is/orduskra/fal03.php?term=Ahtisaari%2C%20&sub=Leita |date=13 March 2016 }}, 26 September 1995, Grand Cross with Collar & Grand Cross respectively
• {{Flag|Indonesia}}:
• 70px Third Class of the Star of the Republic of Indonesia{{cite web|url=http://www.antaranews.com/print/40353/presiden-anugerahkan-bintang-utama-kepada-ahtisaari|title=Presiden Anugerahkan Bintang Utama Kepada Ahtisaari|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404113734/http://www.antaranews.com/print/40353/presiden-anugerahkan-bintang-utama-kepada-ahtisaari|archive-date=4 April 2015}}
• {{flag|Italy}}:
• 70px Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (1997)
• {{flag|Kuwait}}:
• 70px Grand Cordon of the Order of Mubarak the Great
• {{flag|Latvia}}:
• 70px Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Three Stars:
• {{flag|Lithuania}}
• 70px Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great (1996){{Cite web |title=Apdovanotų asmenų duomenų bazė |url=https://www.lrp.lt/lt/prezidento-veikla/apdovanojimai/apdovanotu-asmenu-duomenu-baze/27252?sqid=324dedfb248c97cabdd7276c05a297f53c0e3f18 |access-date=16 October 2023 |website=Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidento kanceliarija |language=lt}}
• {{flag|Malaysia}}:
• 70px Honorary Recipient of the Most Exalted Order of the Crown of the Realm (1995){{Cite web|url=http://www.istiadat.gov.my/index.php/component/semakanlantikanskp/|title=Bahagian Istiadat dan Urusetia Persidangan Antarabangsa|website=istiadat.gov.my|access-date=15 June 2016|archive-date=19 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719195551/http://www.istiadat.gov.my/index.php/component/semakanlantikanskp|url-status=live}}
• {{flag|Mexico}}:
• 70px Collar of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (1999){{Cite web |title=ACUERDO por el que se otorga al excelentísimo señor Martti Ahtisaari, la Condecoración Orden Mexicana del Aguila Azteca, en grado de Gran Collar. |url=https://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=4944072&fecha=19/02/1999#gsc.tab=0 |access-date=16 October 2023 |website=Diario Oficial de la Federación |language=es |archive-date=16 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016170546/https://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=4944072&fecha=19#gsc.tab=0 |url-status=live }}
• {{flag|Netherlands}}:
• 70px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
• {{flag|Norway}}:
• 70px Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of St. Olav (1994)
• {{flag|Poland}}:
• 70px Knight of the Order of the White Eagle (1997){{Cite web |title=Pokojowy Nobel dla mistrza mediacji |url=https://www.rp.pl/nauka/art15998321-pokojowy-nobel-dla-mistrza-mediacji |access-date=16 October 2023 |website=Rzeczpospolita |language=pl |archive-date=16 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016170544/https://www.rp.pl/nauka/art15998321-pokojowy-nobel-dla-mistrza-mediacji |url-status=live }}
• {{flag|Romania}}:
• 70px Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania
• {{flag|South Africa}}:
• 70px Supreme Companion of the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo (16 June 2004)
• 70px Grand Cross of the Order of Good Hope (1997){{Cite web|url=http://www.info.gov.za/aboutgovt/orders/recipients/1997.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015131848/http://www.info.gov.za/aboutgovt/orders/recipients/1997.htm|url-status=dead|title=1997 National Orders awards|archive-date=15 October 2012}}
• {{flag|Spain}}:
• 70px Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic{{Cite web |title=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. |url=https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-1999-2504 |access-date=16 October 2023 |website=BOE |archive-date=17 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017235320/https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-1999-2504 |url-status=live }}
• {{flag|Sweden}}:
• 70px Knight with Collar (1996) of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (1994){{cite web|url=http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/2283/ahtisaariuu8.png |title=Archived copy |access-date=2 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112115519/http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/2283/ahtisaariuu8.png |archive-date=12 November 2013}}
• {{flag|Turkey}}:
• 70px First Class of the Order of the State of the Republic of Turkey (1999)
• {{flag|Ukraine}}:
• 70px First Class of the Order of Yaroslav the Wise
• {{Flag|United Arab Emirates}}:
• 70px First Class of the Order of Federation
• {{flag|United Kingdom}}:
• 70px Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (1995)

• 1995: Zamenhof Prize for International Understanding, of the World Esperanto Association
• 1998: Honorary doctorate from Helsinki University of Technology,[http://www.aalto.fi/en/current/tkk_archive/news/view/kunniatohtori_martti_ahtisaarelle_nobelin_rauhanpalkinto/ "TKK Honorary Doctor Martti Ahtisaari to receive Nobel Peace Prize"]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}, Aalto University webpage, 13 October 2008. AU is successor to HUT/TKK. Retrieved 8 August 2012. and from National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
• 2000: J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding{{Cite web|url=https://fulbright.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2000-Martti-Ahtisaari.pdf|title=Martti Ahtisaari|access-date=23 October 2023|archive-date=21 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231021022243/https://fulbright.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2000-Martti-Ahtisaari.pdf|url-status=live}}
• 2000: Freedom medalFour Freedoms Award#Freedom Medal
• 2000: {{Flag|Germany}}: Hessian Peace Prize[http://www.hsfk.de/Preistraegerinnen-und-Preistraeger-des-Hessischen.863.0.html?&L=1 Laureates of the Hessian Peace Prize] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217010143/http://www.hsfk.de/Preistraegerinnen-und-Preistraeger-des-Hessischen.863.0.html?&L=1 |date=17 February 2016 }}, hsfk.deDead link at Crisis Management Initiative website: {{cite web|url=http://www.cmi.fi/?content%3Dspeech%26id%3D11 |title=CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation |access-date=10 October 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509224816/http://www.cmi.fi/?content=speech&id=11 |archive-date=9 May 2013}}.
• 2004: OR Tambo Award
• 2006: Gold Medal of The American-Scandinavian Foundation[http://www.cmi.fi/en/office-of-president-ahtisaari/president-ahtisaari/cv CV of Martti Ahtisaari] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307133547/http://www.cmi.fi/en/office-of-president-ahtisaari/president-ahtisaari/cv |date=7 March 2016 }}, cmi.fi
• 2007: {{Flag|Germany}}: Manfred Wörner Medal of the German Ministry of Defense
• 2007: Honorary degree, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland
• 2008: Delta Prize for Global Understanding{{Cite web|url=https://deltachair.uga.edu/the-delta-prize-for-global-understanding/|title=The Delta Prize for Global Understanding|access-date=23 October 2023|archive-date=24 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024002233/https://deltachair.uga.edu/the-delta-prize-for-global-understanding/|url-status=live}}
• 2008: Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize{{Cite web |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187347 |title=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 |access-date=23 October 2023 |archive-date=24 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024002237/https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187347 |url-status=live }}
• 2008: Nobel Peace Prize{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2008/ahtisaari/facts/|title=The Nobel Peace Prize 2008|website=NobelPrize.org|access-date=23 October 2023|archive-date=3 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230903011755/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2008/ahtisaari/facts/|url-status=live}}
• 2008: {{Flag|Netherlands}}: Geuzenpenning
• 2011: Honorary degree, University of Calgary, Canada

• List of peace activists

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130616155936/http://www.project-syndicate.org/contributors/contributor_comm.php4?id=689 Martti Ahtisaari's Project Syndicate op/eds]
• {{Nobelprize}}
• [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2008/ahtisaari-lecture.html Ahtisaari Nobel Prize lecture]
• [http://finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=160140&contentlan=2&culture=en-US ThisisFINLAND -Nobel recognition rewards peaceful resolutions]
• {{C-SPAN|38018}}
• [https://suomenpresidentit.fi/ahtisaari/?lang=en Martti Ahtisaari] in The Presidents of Finland

{{s-start}}

{{s-off}}

{{s-bef|before=Mauno Koivisto}}

{{s-ttl|title=President of Finland|years=1994–2000}}

{{s-aft|after=Tarja Halonen}}

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{{s-bef|before=Al Gore|before2=Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change}}

{{s-ttl|title=Laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize|years=2008}}

{{s-aft|after=Barack Obama}}

{{s-end}}

{{Finnish Presidents}}

{{Nobel Peace Prize Laureates 2001-2025}}

{{2008 Nobel Prize Winners}}

{{The Elders}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahtisaari, Martti}}

Category:1937 births

Category:2023 deaths

Category:Presidents of Finland

Category:Nobel Peace Prize laureates

Category:Finnish Nobel laureates

Category:Finnish officials of the United Nations

Category:Social Democratic Party of Finland politicians

Category:University of Oulu alumni

Category:Finnish schoolteachers

Category:YMCA leaders

Category:Finnish people of Norwegian descent

Category:Finnish Lutherans

Category:Politicians from Vyborg

Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease

Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon

Category:Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog

Category:Recipients of the Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana

Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Vytautas the Great

Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic

Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Category:Collars of the Order of Isabella the Catholic

Category:Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class

Category:Under-Secretaries-General of the United Nations

Category:Ambassadors of Finland to Somalia

Category:Ambassadors of Finland to Zambia

Category:Ambassadors of Finland to Mozambique

Category:Ambassadors of Finland to Ethiopia

Category:Ambassadors of Finland to Tanzania

Category:Candidates for President of Finland

Category:Finnish expatriates in Pakistan

Category:Finnish expatriates in Namibia

Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania

Category:Special Representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations

Category:Special Envoys of the Secretary-General of the United Nations

Category:Diplomats from Vyborg

Category:20th-century Finnish diplomats

Category:The Elders (organization)