The two stories of Martti Ahtisaari

Biography depicts Ahtisaari as both an easygoing successful man of the world; occasionally morphing into a somewhat bitter former president

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By Unto Hämäläinen
     
      In March 1968 Eeva Hyvärinen, a Bachelor of Humanities, was given a calling card by development cooperation official Martti Ahtisaari at the end of an evening.
      At home she read on the card that the man wanted to marry her.
      The target of the proposal called the same night and said that it would be all right.
      The wedding was held fairly soon. The two were at a ripe age - Ahtisaari was 30 years old and Hyvärinen was a year older.
     
There was some disagreement about the wedding day.
      Zambia’s President Kenneth Kaunda was coming to Finland and Ahtisaari got an invitation for lunch at the Presidential Palace on the day that the wedding was scheduled.
      The groom would have wanted to postpone the wedding, but the bride insisted on holding on to the original date.
      Mrs. Ahtisaari could see around corners.
      There were to be hundreds of lunches where her husband would be able to work with African leaders on improving the world.
     
The narration of Eeva Ahtisaari - its sharp-sightedness, its sense of style, and its gentle humour - make the part of the book Matkalla (“On the Road”) that was written by journalist Katri Merikallio a magnificent reading experience.
      The same features could be seen in Eeva Ahtisaari’s own memoirs Juuret ja siivet (“Roots and Wings”) from 2002.
      The close cooperation between his wife and Merikallio saves the biography of Martti Ahtisaari, whose sources include the family’s own archives and extensive interview material.
      Merikallio depicts Ahtisaari’s childhood, his professional career, and his work as a mediator.
      Tapani Ruokanen, editor-in-chief of the news magazine Suomen Kuvalehti, writes about Ahtisaari's presidency.
     
In Merikallio’s part of the book, Eeva Ahtisaari supports and defends her husband against the evil world, but she does it with style.
      She dares concede that there are a few minor faults - human weaknesses - in her husband.
      Consequently, when she praises him, it is easy to take the praise seriously.
      Merikallio lets Martti Ahtisaari and his friends describe how the natural curiosity and courage of a young man who grew up in the garrisons of Kuopio and Oulu sent him on a trip to the other side of the world already in the early 1960s. Such travel was quite unusual at the time.
      His travels continued to Africa. Ahtisaari learned to be a patient negotiator and a skilful tactician.
      Without these skills he would never have made it in the high offices of the UN.
     
Ahtisaari’s career is dazzling even on a global scale.
      “It could be that no other Finn has ever been or ever will be in that group”, says Paavo Lipponen.
      His life’s work culminated in a nine-year period, which began in the spring of 1999 with the mediation in the Kosovo conflict, and continued in mediation in many crises.
      Ahtisaari was repeatedly sought out, and he was able to give assistance.
      He is at his best in the final stages of negotiations.
      Many others would tire, but not Ahtisaari. He would seem to have so-called American hidden muscles under his coat - not outwardly visible, but with an incredible amount of strength.
     
General Jaakko Oksanen, who assisted in the Aceh peace negotiations, says:
      “With experience, Ahtisaari has developed a strong certainty of what to do and what not to do when working among different cultures. The sides can tolerate toughness when it is perceived to be honest.”
      Another aide, Juha Christensen, describes the final stages of the negotiations: “When he moved forward step by step with both the EU and the parties to the conflict, we reached a situation unexpectedly soon in which there was no coming back. Then the only thing that was left was to sign the paper.”
     
After Indonesia, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan recruited Ahtisaari to work on the independence process for Kosovo. It was an honorary task - a continuation of the Kosovo peace agreement of 1999.
      Russia went against the plan, with Vladimir Putin himself orchestrating the turnaround.
      “The Russians have no great love for the Serbs, and Serbia is not even important for Russia. This was just a way for Russia to needle the West”, Ahtisaari said.
     
After much manoeuvring, Kosovo got its independence, and its separation from Serbia.
      This was finally sufficient evidence for Norway’s Nobel Committee.
      Three years ago at the ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Ahtisaari gave the best speech of his life. Ahtisaari lacks the ability to hold his light under a bushel, but he did find the right words to evaluate his achievements.
      The speech left a good feeling.
      Not everyone could share the joy: the Russian and Serbian ambassadors boycotted the celebration.
     
Judging from the book, the 74-year-old Ahtisaari is continuing his work at almost the same pace as before, says his friend and fellow world traveller, journalist Rauli Virtanen.
      “When one gets used to moving around, it is no longer possible to stop travelling. Interesting people, a more open atmosphere - internationalism itself: it is inspiring. Finland is a fairly homogenous country. If one stays here for a longer time, one starts to get anxious.”
      Ahtisaari’s six years as President was the longest uninterrupted period in his adulthood for him to be in Finland, and much of that time was also spent travelling.
     
The other author, Tapani Ruokanen, writes about Ahtisaari’s presidency for about half of the book.
      Reading it gives rise to feelings of anguish.
      No longer is the narration that of a relaxed and successful man of the world. Instead, a seemingly embittered former head of state recounts his story to Ruokanen.
      His term did not leave Ahtisaari with pleasant memories. He was certainly pleased with his own achievements, but he grew tired of us, his people.
      “He was disappointed with the Finnish people”, Lasse Lehtinen says.
     
The accumulation of bad feelings pushed the President into a strange state of indecision.
      President Ahtisaari had originally planned to serve two terms in office - from 1994 to 2006.
      From the autumn of 1998 to the spring of 1999 he vacillated over whether or not he should actually seek a second term.
      The leadership of the Social Democratic Party and many others showed up at Mäntyniemi to ask, but the President just twisted and turned.
      His opponents struck back. Former Prime Minister Kalevi Sorsa, whom Ahtisaari had defeated for the Social Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1993, started to set the stage for Foreign Minister Tarja Halonen.
     
Soon it became evident that undermining Ahtisaari was not that difficult.
      If Ahtisaari was disappointed with the Finns, the Finns also became tired of their president.
      “The party was not interested in my candidacy. Halonen had a tremendous yearning for the post. That is what saved me. I would have had to continue if Tarja had said that she did not want to run under any circumstances”, Ahtisaari recalls.
      “I am not a politician, fortunately. Lipponen was also quite powerless in the situation, and Halonen steamrollered him.”
     
Lipponen also blames Ahtisaari himself.
      ”If he would have said early enough that he would run again, he would have had the advantage. I understand that the situation was a difficult one for a president in office. But nobody else could have made the decision for him.
      Finally the President refused to seek another term and went back to his old work - that of mediation.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 21.10.2011


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari speaks of double standards in peace work (10.12.2008)
  Ahtisaari urges Russia to recognise Kosovo (10.3.2008)
  Mediator Martti Ahtisaari´s efforts receive full support from West in Kosovo talks (22.9.2006)
  WIKILEAKS: US diplomatic cables portray Ahtisaari as straight-talking and formidable peace mediator (14.2.2011)
  Thousands in Aceh celebrate as peace treaty is signed in Helsinki (16.8.2005)

UNTO HÄMÄLÄINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
unto.hamalainen@hs.fi