Editing Martti Ahtisaari (section)

== President of Finland (1994–2000)==
{{See also|1994 Finnish presidential election}}
[[File:Martti-Ahtisaari-1994.jpg|thumb|200px|Ahtisaari holding a press conference during the 1994 presidential election]]
[[File:Finland's president Martti Ahtisaari's inaugural 1994 (JOKAOM13HeV aae-1).tif|thumb|200px|Finland's president [[Mauno Koivisto]] and his successor Martti Ahtisaari in 1994]]
[[File:Martti Ahtisaari in Argentina.jpg|thumb|140px|Ahtisaari in 1997]]
[[File:President Bill Clinton with President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland and President Boris Yeltsin of Russia.jpg|160px|thumb|Ahtisaari with [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Boris Yeltsin]] in 1997]]
[[File:Martti Ahtisaari with Carlos Menem.jpg|160px|thumb|right|Ahtisaari with [[Carlos Menem]] in 1997]]

Finland's ongoing [[recession]] caused established political figures to lose public support, and the [[presidential elections]] were now direct instead of being conducted through an electoral college.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Arter|first=David|date=1994|title=The 1994 Finnish presidential election: Honesty was not the best policy!|journal=West European Politics|volume=17|issue=4|pages=190–192|doi=10.1080/01402389408425049|issn=0140-2382}}</ref><ref name=kansalli /><ref name=cidob /> The [[Social Democratic Party of Finland]]'s candidate to succeed [[Mauno Koivisto]] as President of Finland was decided in a primary between Ahtisaari and former Prime Minister and diplomat [[Kalevi Sorsa]]. Ahtisaari led in the polls against Sorsa, who was already a popular and experienced politician and won the primaries on 16 May 1993 with 61% of the votes.<ref name=cidob /><ref name=kansalli />

After the primaries, Ahtisaari returned to his work in Geneva, and did not start his presidential campaign until the end of October.<ref name=kansalli /> Ahtisaari narrowly won over his second round opponent, [[Elisabeth Rehn]] of the [[Swedish People's Party (Finland)|Swedish People's Party]].<ref name=cidob /> During the campaign, there were rumours spread by some political opponents of Ahtisaari that he had a drinking problem or that he had knowingly accepted a double salary from the Finnish Foreign Ministry and from the United Nations while trying to negotiate an end to the Bosnian War. Ahtisaari denied both allegations and no firm proof of them has emerged.  During the three-week campaign between the two rounds of presidential elections, Ahtisaari was praised by his supporters for being more compassionate towards the many unemployed Finns than Rehn, who as Defence Minister had to officially support the Aho government's strict economic policies. A minor controversy arose during a town hall-style presidential debate in [[Lappeenranta]], southeastern Finland when an apparently born-again Christian woman in the audience asked Rehn what her relationship with Jesus was. Rehn replied that she had personally no proof that Jesus had been a historical person. Ahtisaari ducked a precise answer by stating that he trusted the Lutheran confession even on this issue.<ref name="MMM1995">Mitä Missä Milloin&nbsp;— Kansalaisen vuosikirja 1995 ("What Where When&nbsp;— Citizen's Yearbook 1995"), Helsinki: Otava Publications Ltd., 1994.</ref><ref name="Snellman1994">Anja Snellman and Saska Saarikoski, "The Third Round" / Kolmas kierros, published in Finland in 1994.</ref><ref name="Sainio1993">Pertti Sainio, "Secret Operation Ahtisaari" / Operaatio Salainen Ahtisaari, published in Finland in 1993.</ref> He was sworn in on 1 March 1994.<ref name=cidob />

His term as president began with a schism within the [[Centre Party (Finland)|Centre Party]] government led by prime minister [[Esko Aho]], who did not approve of Ahtisaari's being actively involved in foreign policy. There was also some controversy over Ahtisaari's speaking out on domestic issues such as unemployment. He travelled extensively in Finland and abroad, and was nicknamed "Matka-Mara" (''"Travel-Mara"'', Mara being a common diminutive form of Martti). His monthly travels throughout the country and his meetings with ordinary citizens (the so-called ''maakuntamatkat'' or "provincial trips") nonetheless greatly enhanced his political popularity. Ahtisaari kept his campaign promise to visit one Finnish historical province every month during his presidency.  He also donated some thousands of [[Finnish mark]]s per month to the unemployed people's organisations, and a few thousand Finnish marks to the Christian social organisation of the late lay preacher and social worker [[Veikko Hursti]].<ref>Mitä Missä Milloin&nbsp;— Kansalaisen vuosikirjat 1995, 2000, 2001 ("What Where When&nbsp;— Citizen's Yearbooks 1995, 2000, 2001")</ref><ref>Veikko Hursti, "For I Was Hungry ..." / Sillä minun oli nälkä ... (autobiography), published in Finland in 1997.</ref>

Ahtisaari favoured pluralism and religious tolerance publicly. Privately, he and his wife practised their Christian faith. Contrary to some of his predecessors and his successor as the Finnish President, Ahtisaari ended all of his New Year's speeches by wishing the Finnish people God's blessing.<ref>The speeches are available in electronic form from Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE's Living Archives, {{cite web|url=http://www.yle.fi/elavaarkisto/ |title=Maaseudulta maailmalle -sarja kertoo vuosien 1956–1966 Suomesta |access-date=7 February 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210035359/http://yle.fi/elavaarkisto/ |archive-date=10 February 2015}}</ref>

In January 1998 Ahtisaari was criticized by some NGOs, politicians and notable cultural figures because he awarded Commander of the [[Order of the Lion of Finland]] to the Forest Minister of [[Indonesia]] and to the main owner of the Indonesian RGM Company, a parent company of the April Company. The April Company was criticized by non-governmental organisations for destroying [[rain forest]]s, and Indonesia itself was criticized heavily for human rights violations, especially in [[East Timor]]. Ahtisaari's party chairman [[Erkki Tuomioja]] said that giving medals was questionable since he feared the act may tarnish the public image of Finnish human rights policy. Students of the arts had demonstrations in Helsinki against the decision to give medals.<ref>''[[Helsingin Sanomat]]'', kotimaa, 1998 January 15, p. 1, "Mielenosoitus: Kunniamerkit takaisin Indonesiasta".</ref><ref>''[[Helsingin Sanomat]]'', Talous, 2000 March 21, p. 3., "Ahtisaari saanee vastaehdokkaan UPM:n hallitus-vaaliin" (tässä jutussa on vain Luontoliiton osuus).</ref>

President Ahtisaari publicly supported Finland's entry into the [[European Union]], and in a 1994 [[referendum]], 57 percent of Finnish voters were in favour of EU membership.<ref name="Turun Sanomat"/><ref name="MMM1996">Mitä Missä Milloin&nbsp;— Kansalaisen vuosikirja 1996 ("What Where When&nbsp;— Citizen's Yearbook 1996"), Helsinki: Otava Publications Ltd., 1995.</ref> He later stated that if Finland had not voted to join the EU he would have resigned.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yle.fi/uutiset/president_would_have_resigned_if_finland_had_vetoed_eu_membership/7806069|title=President would have resigned if Finland had vetoed EU membership|work=Yle Uutiset|date=14 February 2015|access-date=14 February 2015|archive-date=17 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217031328/http://yle.fi/uutiset/president_would_have_resigned_if_finland_had_vetoed_eu_membership/7806069|url-status=live}}</ref> The promotion of a European collective security system and Nordic cooperation, as well as a security policy without membership of NATO, were central to Ahtisaari's foreign policy.<ref name=kansalli />

During Ahtisaari's term as president, [[Boris Yeltsin]] and [[Bill Clinton]] met in [[Helsinki]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Huippukokous päättyi yhteisymmärrykseen viidestä turvallisuusjulistuksesta[.] Clinton ja Jeltsin aikovat tiivistää Naton ja Venäjän yhteistyötä[.] Presidentti Clinton lähti illalla kotimatkalle |last=Huhta |first=Kari |work=Helsingin Sanomat |date=22 March 1997 |access-date=23 August 2021 |url=https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000003609901.html |language=fi |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823034654/https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000003609901.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He also negotiated alongside [[Viktor Chernomyrdin]] with [[Slobodan Milošević]] to end the [[Kosovo War|fighting]] in the [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]] province of [[Kosovo]] in 1999.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Huhta |first=Kari |title=Tshernomyrdin yksin Helsingistä Belgradiin |newspaper=Helsingin Sanomat |date=20 May 1999 |access-date=23 August 2021 |url=https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000003800968.html |language=fi |page=C1 |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823034640/https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000003800968.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ahtisaari's lack of restrained involvement in public affairs and his pronouncements on domestic and economic policy provoked reservations both in Parliament itself and in the Social Democratic Party of Finland, and led Ahtisaari not to stand for re-election in [[2000 Finnish presidential election|2000]], which was announced in April 1999, and also alleged that two members of the SDP also ran as candidates.<ref name=cidob /><ref name="Turun Sanomat"/> Ahtisaari was the last "strong president", before the [[Constitution of Finland|2000 constitution]] reduced the president's powers. He was succeeded by [[Tarja Halonen]] on 1 March 2000.<ref name=cidob />