Martti Ahtisaari

I think it's a disgrace for the international community that we have allowed so many conflicts to become frozen, and we are not making a serious effort to solve them.

Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (23 June 1937 – 16 October 2023) was a former President of Finland (1994–2000), a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work, and the recipient of the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.

Quotes

You have to be rather straightforward with your clients. You can't tell the parties only nice things.

• I think it's a disgrace for the international community that we have allowed so many conflicts to become frozen, and we are not making a serious effort to solve them.
  • Telephone interview with Adam Smith, Editor-in-Chief of Nobelprize.org (10 October 2008)

• It's very important to be able to act properly. You need financing, and you never have enough.
  • On his plans to use the Nobel Prize money to help fund peace organisations he has worked with, quoted in "Ahtisaari wins Nobel Peace Prize" in BBC News (10 October 2008)

• Since I know that about a million people have been killed by the government of Iraq, I do not need much those weapons of mass destruction.
  • Defending the US government decision to invade Iraq, as quoted in "Nobel Finn" in Wall Street Journal (11 October 2008)

• During the next 10 years about 1.2 billion young 15-to-30-year-olds will be entering the job market and with the means now at our disposal about 300 million will get a job. What will we offer these young, about a billion of them? — or will we leave them to be recruited by criminal leagues and terrorists? … I think this is one of the greatest challenges if we want to achieve peaceful development and hope for these young.
  • Interview with Finnish YLE TV, quoted in "Nobel Peace Prize winner wants jobs for the young" in International Herald Tribune (11 October 2008)

• You have to be rather straightforward with your clients. You can't tell the parties only nice things. This is not an entertainment show; it's not reality television either.
  • On working in peace negotiations, as quoted in "Nobel Peace Prize winner wants jobs for the young" in International Herald Tribune (11 October 2008)

External links

• Martti Ahtisaari's homepage
• Profile at the official Nobel Prize site
• Profile at BBC News
• Martti Ahtisaari's Project Syndicate op/eds
• "Former Finnish President Wins Nobel Peace Prize" The New York Times (10 October 2008)
• Conflict Resolution Marked Career of Nobel Laureate Martti Ahtisaari" VOA News (10 October 2008)
• "Global troubleshooter Ahtisaari wins Nobel Peace Prize" in Agence France-Presse report (10 October 2008)