This is a historic day for Finland. Today all of us, each and every Finn, are surely proud and happy for President Ahtisaari.
The Nobel Peace Prize awarded to President Ahtisaari is magnificent recognition for his life?s work in conflict solving and peace promotion. Ahtisaari?s efforts during the Namibian independence process and the Kosovo peace negotiations and in bringing the violence in Aceh, Indonesia to a halt have also helped to make Finland known internationally.
Through his own life?s work, Ahtisaari has shown how an influential person with a determined and unbending attitude can bring about concrete results and can give people hope of a better future.
In Martti Ahtisaari we have a true statesman and a world policy actor.