Helsinki - The 2008 Nobel Peace Prize winner, former Finnish president and veteran peace broker Martti Ahtisaari, expressed joy Friday over winning the coveted award he believed was "for a life's work."Ahtisaari, 71, who served as president 1994-2000, did not indicate any plans to slow down.
Next week he planned to travel to Amman, Jordan and his organization, Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) was planning a project in Liberia.
He also planned to visit Aceh in Indonesia where elections were planned next year, and where he helped broker a 2005 peace deal between the separatist GAM movement and Jakarta.
The recognition of Kosovo - the province Serbia still regards as its own - by neighbouring states Montenegro and Macedonia were "very important," Ahtisaari said at a news conference at the president's palace in Helsinki.
Ahtisaari said he hoped the recognition would have "a positive effect on those who haven't yet recognized Kosovo."
In November 2005, he was named special UN envoy to Kosovo but his efforts to bridge the divisions over Kosovo's status were unsuccessful and he stepped down after presenting his recommendations in February 2008.
Asked if there were any tricks of the trade as a peace negotiator, Ahtisaari underlined the need to treat each case separately and said "you have to be straightforward."
