The mood in Greece is anything but Christmas. The fatal shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in the Athens district of Exarchia has sparked several days of protests, riots and running battles between youths and the police. In a country that is no stranger to political unrest, the recent riots have already been called the worst since student protests that led to the fall of the military junta in 1974.

The riots erupted on December 6 after Grigoropoulos was shot by a police officer, now charged with manslaughter, while another officer has been indicted as an accomplice. The officer said he fired in the air, a statement disputed by witnesses at the scene, but a ballistics report presented in court on December 10 confirmed that the bullet hit after a ricochet, news agencies reported. Police said that the officers' patrol car was being pelted with stones and that the teen had been shot when he tried to throw a fuel-filled bomb at officers.

But the violence on the streets of major Greek cities has less to do with the shooting, which only provided the first spark in the explosion, and more with the simmering tension in Greek society, where discontent with the economic policies of the conservative government of Kostas Karamanlis runs high.

"We all thought it would take one incident for things to go up, and with the police killing of the teenage boy that is exactly what happened," UK newspaper The Guardian quoted political analyst Konstantinos Angelopoulos as saying.

On December 9, about 10 000 people gathered in front of the parliament building in a show of anger at the teenager's death, but also to protest over the state of the economy, unemployment and allegations that the government is corrupt, CNN reported. Rocks were reported to have been thrown at the building, prompting police to wade into the crowd. It was no isolated incident and police have had to use tear gas repeatedly, including at the funeral service for Grigoropoulos, attended by thousands.
Inside the parliament, Karamanlis was meeting his cabinet council and opposition leaders, hoping to get their support for security operations and to discourage new protests. It yielded no reprieve, with Socialist leader George Papandreou once again calling for early elections.

Karamanlis has come under increasing criticism for mishandling the situation, with a public opinion poll for Greek daily Kathimerini showing that about two thirds of Greeks felt that the government has not handled the situation well. In a televised address, Karamanlis defended the actions of his cabinet, calling on political parties and the public to marginalise the rioters, whom he branded "enemies of democracy", Kathimerini reported. It appeared to have little effect, however, as violence resumed not only in big cities like Athens and Thessaloniki, but spread to at least a dozen other Greek cities, including Patras, where protesters and police clashed for several hours, Kathimerini reported.

On December 10, it was made worse by the nationwide strike called by labour unions. All flights were cancelled and banks and schools shut down, while hospitals ran only emergency services as hundreds of thousands of Greeks walked off the job, Reuters reported. Some protesters threw Molotov cocktails at police and chants of "government murderers!" were heard, the agency said.

Greece's two big labour unions, which, combined, form half of Greece's workforce, said the total participation in the strike made the country grind to a standstill. Unions blame the government's policies, including tax hikes and controversial pension and education reforms, for the worsening economy, which has been hit hard by the global financial crisis.

For now, Karamanlis has said he has no intention to resign. His New Democracy party has the slimmest of majorities in parliament - just one seat - and early elections would inevitably end in defeat. Even before the riots, the party had been trailing the Socialists in opinion polls.

Whether he changes his mind, remains to be seen, but the cost of the continued unrest is piling up. In Athens alone, more than 500 stores have been torched or looted by rioters, causing damages of about 200 million euro. Store owners blamed the police, who reportedly retaliated only when under attack, but paid no attention to the rioters when they were looting. Karamanlis has said that the government would cover all damages, but whether he would be given the chance to make amends remains a big question mark.