Finland’s Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said yesterday after meeting with his Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyannis that dealing with the Cyprus issue will be the European Union’s “most demanding problem” over the next six months. Finland will take over the EU presidency in July. “We hope that we could perhaps achieve some significant progress during our presidency,” said Tuomioja. “On the other hand, there is the possibility for some sort of crisis in the situation but we want to avoid that,” he told reporters after the two diplomats met in Helsinki. Bakoyannis said the United Nations was responsible for finding a solution in Cyprus.

Former investigative magistrate Constantina Bourboulia, who is waiting to be tried on trial-fixing charges, has had her court appearance postponed because of serious health problems, sources said yesterday. Bourboulia underwent surgery at the Alexandra hospital last Thursday and may need to be operated on again, sources said without giving details about her condition. Her health problems had been detected during medical tests in France, where she was arrested in January after fleeing Greek authorities.

Two men were charged yesterday with attempted murder and causing severe bodily harm after they allegedly assaulted two members of a television crew on Saturday, police said. The two men, aged 33 and 24, allegedly attacked a reporter and a cameraman as they covered a story in the Peristeri park in western Athens. They were told to leave the premises and were beaten when they refused to do so, according to police. The two men were not named. The 24-year-old is the son of a police officer while the other suspect is a car mechanic.

The Agricultural Development and Food Ministry has suggested to the European Union that Greece should proceed with the precautionary inoculation against bird flu of some 3,000 water fowl in Greek parks and zoos, sources told Kathimerini yesterday. Greece has proposed the measure as part of EU plans for strengthening defenses against the deadly disease this fall. Sources said the ministry is also looking at ways of protecting some 10,000 ostriches on Greek farms.

Three truck drivers were arrested on the Kilkis-Doiranis national road yesterday on the suspicion that they had been siphoning gas from other lorries. Police officers in Kilkis, northeastern Greece, said the three men, who are foreign nationals, had stolen approximately 400 liters of fuel. The gas was returned to the drivers from whom it had been stolen. The three suspects were taken to a local prosecutor.

Police on the Greek-Albanian border near Igoumenitsa intercepted a small group of illegal immigrants trying to sneak into Greece while carrying 120 kilos of cannabis, authorities said yesterday. The men dumped the cannabis after being asked to stop and escaped from police by running back to Albania.

Athens prefectural authorities yesterday confiscated 650 kilos of meat unfit for consumption from a food company in Ilion, western Athens. Authorities also seized 400 kilos of feta cheese from a Sklavenitis supermarket because the feta was incorrectly labeled but later returned the cheese after the supermarket appealed the decision and affixed new labels to the product.

The National Council for Radio and Television (ESR) yesterday approved the sale of radio station Flash to businessman Socrates Kokkalis for 100,000 euros. Flash management told the ESR that salaries owed to its employees will be paid within a week.