Costas Karamanlis, Greek prime minister, on Tuesday said he accepted “a share of the blame” in a corruption scandal involving a Mount Athos monastery that has contributed to continuing social unrest 11 days after the killing of a teenager by police.

Mr Karamanlis said he failed to appreciate the seriousness of events at Vatopedi, a wealthy Orthodox monastery which exchanged tracts of farmland in northern Greece for state-owned property in Athens.