Martti Ahtisaari in the context of "Resolution 1244"

The political status of Kosovo, also known as the Kosovo question, is the subject of a long-running political and territorial dispute between the Serbian (and previously, Yugoslav) government and the Government of Kosovo, stemming from the breakup of Yugoslavia (1991–92) and the ensuing Kosovo War (1998–99). In 1999, the administration of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija was handed on an interim basis to the United Nations under the terms of UNSCR 1244, which ended the Kosovo conflict of that year. That resolution reaffirmed Serbia's territorial integrity over Kosovo but required the UN administration to promote the establishment of 'substantial autonomy and self-government' for Kosovo, pending a 'final settlement' for negotiation between the parties.

The UN-sponsored talks began in February 2006, and though no agreement was reached between the parties, a proposal from UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari was presented in May 2007, which recommended 'supervised independence' for the province. After several weeks of discussions at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, and other European members of the United Nations Security Council formally 'discarded' a draft resolution backing the Ahtisaari Plan on 20 July 2007, as they had failed to secure Russian backing.

United Nations Security Council resolution 1244, adopted on 10 June 1999, after recalling resolutions 1160 (1998), 1199 (1998), 1203 (1998) and 1239 (1999), authorised an international civil and military presence in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and established the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). It followed an agreement by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević to terms proposed by President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari and former Prime Minister of Russia Viktor Chernomyrdin on 8 June, involving withdrawal of all Yugoslav state forces from Kosovo (Annex 2 of the Resolution). Annex 2 also specified that "After withdrawal, an agreed number of Yugoslav and Serbian personnel will be permitted to return to perform the following functions:· Liaison with the international civil mission and the international security presence;· Marking/clearing minefields;· Maintaining a presence at Serb patrimonial sites;· Maintaining a presence at key border crossings."

Resolution 1244 was adopted by 14 votes in favour to none against. China abstained despite being critical of the NATO offensive, particularly the bombing of its embassy. It argued that the conflict should be settled by the Yugoslav government and its people, and was opposed to external intervention. However, as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia accepted the peace proposal, China did not veto the resolution.

The Ahtisaari Plan, formally the Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement (CSP), is a status settlement proposed in Mach 2007 by Martti Ahtisaari, the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, covering a wide range of issues related to the status of Kosovo.

The plan was presented to the UN Secretary-General on 15 March, and then sent to the UN Security Council on 26 March, where it was discussed for the first time on 3 April, and later on several other occasions during 2007 and 2008, without formal adoption or rejection.

The Global Peace Index (GPI) is a report produced by the Australia-based NGO Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) which measures the relative position of nations' and regions' peacefulness. The GPI ranks 163 independent states and territories (collectively accounting for 99.7 per cent of the world's population) according to their levels of peacefulness. In the past decade, the GPI has presented trends of increased global violence and less peacefulness.

The GPI (Global Peace Index) is developed in consultation with an international panel of peace experts from peace institutes and think tanks with data collected by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The Index was first launched in 2007, with subsequent reports being released annually. In 2015 it ranked 165 countries, up from 121 in 2007. The study was conceived by Australian technology entrepreneur Steve Killelea, and is endorsed by individuals such as former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Dalai Lama, and 2008 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari. The updated index is released each year at events in London, Washington, D.C., and at the United Nations Secretariat in New York City.