NICOSIA – What was supposed to be a broadcast message from Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, addressing his country’s rough year and economic crisis, became an embarrassing blunder for state TV when someone hit the wrong switch and showed his predecessor, Demetris Christofias.

The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation issued a fast apology and said that it had realized the error within seconds and halted the transmission before putting the right one on the air, but not before the whole country saw it.

The broadcaster is now conducting an internal inquiry into the “very serious” error, CyBC said in a statement carried by the Cyprus News Agency.

The message came at the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31. A similar glitch occurred in Germany in 1986, when a television network aired a message showing Chancellor Helmut Kohl wishing people all the best for 1986 – instead of for 1987.