(ATHENS) - Hundreds of Greeks on Thursday demonstrated in Athens and major Greek cities against rising prices in a protest timed to coincide with the European Union summit in Brussels.

"Prices are charging uncontrollably and profiteers are reveling," the head of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), Yiannis Panagopoulos, told a gathering at the capital's central Syntagma Square.

"We demand that speculation be checked and punished," he said.

Inflation in Greece hit a 10-year high of 4.9 percent in May but the GSEE insists that most of it is fueled by domestic price rises, with cartels allowed to operate unchecked in the country.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is currently attending the EU summit in Brussels, where he and other leaders are anxious to find solutions to the spiralling food and fuel prices.

"This is a problem that affects all of Europe, and particularly less prosperous citizens," Karamanlis said ahead of the summit.

"We need to find common ground for action against this problem and its consequences," he said.

With record crude oil prices nudging 140 dollars a barrel, Europe has seen waves of protests against the soaring cost of fuel in recent weeks, led by increasingly militant fishermen, farmers and truckers.

At the same time, food prices increased 6.4 percent in May over one year in the 15 countries sharing the euro.

But in Greece, the Federation of Greek Industries (SEV) said in a statement:

"The state itself constitutes the main source of high prices."

It noted that it was the government that set prices for more than 95 products and services and kept a wide variety of professions closed to competition.

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