Martti Ahtisaari Lectures

The 17th Martti Ahtisaari Lecture in Jyväskylä on 30 January 2026 

The seventeenth Martti Ahtisaari Lecture will take place in Jyväskylä on Friday 30, January 2026 at 16:00-17:30 in the main building of the University of Jyväskylä.

The keynote address, titled “Technological sovereignty, security and Ddmocracy in Europe,” will be delivered by Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission. 

Program  

• Opening remarks by city mayor Timo Koivisto, City of Jyväskylä  
• European Commission Vice-President Henna Virkkunen: "Technological self-sufficiency, security, and democracy in Europe"  
• Music – Male choir Alvar  
• Discussion, with interviewer Jari Lindström, editor-in-chief of Radio Keskisuomalainen  
• Audience questions  
• Closing remarks by Jari Lindström, editor-in-chief of Radio Keskisuomalainen

The lecture will be held in Finnish and is open to all interested participants. You can also follow the lecture live on the Keskisuomalainen newspaper’s website at www.ksml.fi.

The lecture series honors President Martti Ahtisaari’s significant legacy in peacebuilding and provides timely discussion on what conditions stability and peace require in today’s world.

The event is organized by the City of Jyväskylä, the University of Jyväskylä, Mediatalo Keskisuomalainen, and the Central Finland National Defence Course Association.

The series of lectures carrying Martti Ahtisaari's name

On November 8, 1999, the presidents of the republics of Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland gathered in Jyväskylä to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the end of the Cold War. The presidents discussed current issues and addressed the audience in the Great Hall of the University of Jyväskylä. The Presidents in turn presented their views on the future prospects of their own country and Europe.

In February 2000, representatives of the Central Finland National Defence Association, the City of Jyväskylä, the University of Jyväskylä, and the Keskisuomalainen newspaper obtained permission from President Ahtisaari to arrange an annual lecture under his name.

The series of lectures carrying Martti Ahtisaari's name has featured lectures by prominent Finnish and international speakers. Each lecture has dealt with aspects of Ahtisaari's work: politics, international relations, and current world events. President Martti Ahtisaari himself gave a lecture in 2007. The lecture is open for public and held at the University of Jyväskylä.

President Martti Ahtisaari

The 10th President of the Republic of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari, has been the most internationally-oriented President of Finland to date in terms of both career and outlook. He has received particular respect and recognition within the United Nations. His name is integrally linked to Namibia's transition to independence. Towards the end of his term as President, Mr Ahtisaari was instrumental in bringing to an end the conflict in Kosovo.

President Martti Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2008.

President Ahtisaari's internationally influential work has continued very convincingly even after his time as Finland's president. President Martti Ahtisaari founded the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), of which he is Chairman of the Board, in 2000. CMI works to strengthen the capacity of the international community in comprehensive crisis management and work on contacts and combines analysis, action, and advocacy.

In the spring and summer of 2005, President Ahtisaari earned credit in the peace process between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement. The negotiations leaded to the peace agreement in August 2005. In the autumn of 2003, he leaded an independent panel on the security and safety of UN personnel in Iraq. He also works as UN Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and Personal Envoy of the OSCE CiO for central Asia.

President Ahtisaari is a member of the Independent Commission on Turkey, which examines the challenges and opportunities presented by Turkey's possible accession into the European Union. He is a member of an independent Consultative Group on the Past, seeking consensus in Northern Ireland on how to best deal with the legacy of the past.

President Ahtisaari was appointed the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the future status process for Kosovo during 2005-2008. President Ahtisaari is active in numerous non-governmental and non-profit organisations.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2008 to Martti Ahtisaari for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts. He also received the UNESCO's Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize for 2008.