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Finnish ex-president, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ahtisaari buried

Published November 10,2023
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Former Finnish president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari was buried in a state funeral service in Helsinki on Friday.

After the funeral service, he was buried near his predecessors Urho Kekkonen and Mauno Koivisto.

Ahtisaari's work as an international mediator took centre stage during the service, while Bible passages were read in Finnish and Ndonga, which is spoken in Namibia and Angola.

Ahtisaari died at the age of 86 in Helsinki. He was born in 1937, and served as Finland's president from 1994 to 2000.

Before his tenure, he held a number of positions in the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs as well as the United Nations.

In 2008, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his peacekeeping efforts.

One of his last major political assignments was as a UN special envoy for Kosovo.

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Namibian President Hage Geingob and his Kosovan counterpart Vjosa Osmani were among the mourners attending the service.

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö called Ahtisaari a great Finn. As a refugee from Karelia, which was conquered by the Soviet Union in 1940, he was able to empathize with the situation of people in conflict zones and always placed them at the centre of his mediations in Indonesia, Nambia, Kososvo and other regions, the president said.

"Even in the most stubborn situations he saw something good that was worth reaching out for," said Niinistö.

"But when necessary, he could be a tough and determined negotiator."