WIKILEAKS: US diplomatic cables portray Ahtisaari as straight-talking and formidable peace mediator

Kosovo envoy received US State Department documents

Martti Ahtisaari

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In November 2006, United Nations special representative Martti Ahtisaari tries to bring about a change for the better in the situation in Kosovo. The job is a tremendous one as he piles on the air miles.
      A diplomatic cable from sent the American Embassy in Vienna to Washington on November 15th, 2006 notes that Ahtisaari “continues his efforts in certain European capitals”.
      The breakaway Serbian province is seeking independence, and the world of diplomacy is desperately looking for a way out. The Ahtisaari Plan is in the works.
     
Meanwhile, in a slightly different part of the world, the parties to the civil war in Sri Lanka, the government and the Tamil guerrillas, are nowhere near a peaceful solution.
      On November 6th Robert O. Blake, the US Ambassador in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo sent a wire suggesting that they “...could use an experienced mediator such as Martti Ahtisaari (who is probably too busy) to work with the Norwegians to assume a more active mediation role”.
     
Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari is by far the most frequently mentioned Finn in documents leaked from the US State Department.
      In the more than 250,000 documents leaked by Wikileaks, his name is mentioned 1,167 times.
      The number is even greater if the messages in which Ahtisaari’s name is misspelled are included.
      Ahtissari, Ahtissaari, Ahtisari, Antisarri... American diplomats did not appear to have got the spelling straightened out until 2006, when Ahtisaari had already been named as the Kosovo envoy.
     
The vast majority of the messages involved Kosovo, but the cables draw a fascinating picture about the world of Nobel Laureate Ahtisaari: Aceh, Nepal, New York, Brussels...
      The image is naturally from an American point of view, and very positive.
      The wires comprehensively document the well-known fact that Ambassador Barbara Barrett visited Ahtisaari’s Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) office in Helsinki in June 2008.
      According to the diplomatic cable on the subject, Ahtisaari said that he felt “half American”, as he had lived in New York from early 1977 through the summer of 1991.
     
Confidence in Ahtisaari has been considerable in Washington.
      When the Kosovo effort was at its most intense in 2006, the US State Department had him on its list of people receiving its messages. Helsingin Sanomat has learned of 90 Kosovo documents which specifically stated that Ahtisaari would be allowed to see them.
      However, the confidence was not 100 per cent. Helsingin Sanomat knows of 20 reports to which Ahtisaari was specifically denied access.
      Messages that Ahtisaari was not allowed to see often involved the European Union.
      For instance, a message sent from the Kosovo capital Pristina on November 14th, 2006 complained about how slow EU decision-making was.
     
Ahtisaari was often seen as a tough negotiator in the American assessments.
      Reports characterised him as “typically straight-talking” (wire from Pristina on June 13th, 2006), or as a negotiator who would push others taking part in the talks against the wall.
      When the Indonesian army fired on positions of the Aceh separatist guerrillas, Ahtisaari threatened to “pull the plug” on peace negotiations, according to a wire from Helsinki on April 18th, 2005.
     
There were some particularly intense moments between Ahtisaari and the Serbs, for whom losing Kosovo was very painful.
      According to a report sent from the US Mission to the UN in New York (May 18th, 2006), Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic had complained that Western countries were punishing Serbia for actions taken by former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic.
      “Ahtisaari answered that the Serbs are in denial - when those such as Draskovic say ‘we should not be punished for Milosevic’s actions’, he answers ‘Nor should you be rewarded’.”
     
Russia has also been very critical of Ahtisaari, and the feeling seems to have been mutual.
      In December 2006 Ahtisaari held discussions with US Ambassador Marilyn Ware in Helsinki.
      According to a message sent concerning the meeting on December 8th, 2006, Ahtisaari said that Serbian and Russian resistance to Kosovo independence would be an indication of “unfortunate values”.
      Ahtisaari believed that Russian President Vladimir Putin feared “the shrinking of the Orthodox world” and the emergence of “a small Muslim state in the Balkans”.
     
Ahtisaari faced opposition on the Kosovo question from some EU countries as well.
      A wire sent from Madrid on October 17th, 2006 tells how a senior official of the Spanish Foreign Ministry complained to US diplomats about Ahtisaari.
      According to the cable dated October 17th, 2006, the Spanish official had characterised Ahtisaari as someone who wanted to get Kosovo off his hands, so that he might “not be around if it happens to blow up in his face a year later”.
      Spain still has not recognised Kosovo’s independence, which was declared in February 2008.
     
In June 2008, Ahtisaari said to Ambassador Barrett that he gets more requests for mediation than he has time to start.
      Ahtisaari mentioned Sri Lanka and the Iraqi Kurds as possible areas where mediation would be needed.
      There was also Myanmar, or Burma, which is under military rule, and which had been hit by an extremely destructive storm.
      Barrett reported Ahtisaari had been asked “to do a report in support of the Secretary General’s special envoy work. He noted that there was talk of him going to see the Generals in private with no publicity”.
      It has not been disclosed if Ahtisaari actually made any such visit.
     
     
The Wikileaks articles in Helsingin Sanomat have come from material in the hands of the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. Previous articles published on Friday and over the weekend can be found from our archives.

More on this subject:
 Lipponen admits - and then denies - that he discussed Halonen-Putin meeting with US Embassy in December 2004 (UPDATED 17:00)
 Leaked diplomatic cable indicates NATO views on Russian military shortcomings

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Ahtisaari urges Russia to recognise Kosovo (10.3.2008)
  Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari speaks of double standards in peace work (10.12.2008)
  President Halonen hosts dinner for Nobel laureate Ahtisaari (19.12.2008)
  WIKILEAKS, SATURDAY: Halonen tried repeatedly - and in vain - to get an invite to the Bush White House (11.2.2011)

See also:
  WIKILEAKS: Finland reported copiously to the Americans on dealings with Russian leaders (11.2.2011- contains several articles)

Helsingin Sanomat