Martti Ahtisaari

Who is Martti Ahtisaari?

Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work.

Ahtisaari was a United Nations Special Envoy for Kosovo, charged with organizing Kosovo status process negotiations, aimed at resolving a long-running dispute in Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. In October 2008, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for his efforts on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts". The Nobel statement said that Ahtisaari has played a prominent role in resolving many conflicts in Namibia; Aceh, Indonesia; Kosovo and Iraq, among other areas.