Vienna  - The Austrian government protested Sunday Bratislava's decision to reopen the Bohunice nuclear power plant complex, which was prompted by the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute that has left Slovakia without energy reserves.

"Recommissioning the unsafe Bohunice reactor cannot be accepted," Environment Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich said of the decision to power up the reactor that had been closed at the end of last year.

"Contracts must hold within a community. Shutting off the plant was one of the fundamental conditions for (Slovakia's) entry (into the European Union) , and it cannot simply be cancelled now," Berlakovich said in a statement.

The European Commission must now "energetically demand" that Slovakia stick to the terms of its EU accession agreement, he said.

The head of Austria's Green Party, Eva Glawischnig, also protested the powering-up of the reactor in the village of Jaslovske Bohunice.

"The reactor is one of the three most dangerous in Europe. To start running it again places people in danger not just in neighbouring Austria," she warned on Sunday.

The Slovakian government decided in an extraordinary session Saturday night to reopen the Bohunice plant.

"I am aware that we are violating our accession agreement with the European Union with this decision, and I accept the full political responsibility for it," Prime Minister Robert Fico said during a press conference broadcast on TV news channel TA3 Saturday night.

Slovakia had no other choice as it was on the brink of energy collapse, Energy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek said at the same news conference.

"If you ask me how much more time we still have to consider this step, I have to tell you: now is the time," he said.

Fico and Jahnatek said the "critical point" had been reached when any delay would lead to a total energy black-out in Slovakia.

An EU energy commissioner spokesman in Brussels decried the move and warned Slovakia would be breaking the law.

"It is clear that there is no legal basis for the powering-up of Bohunice, and when the government brings the nuclear power plant back into service, it will do so in clear violation of EU law," Andris Piebalgs said.

The country was currently using up the last of its gas reserves to produce electricity.

Fico said Saturday he expected protests from Austria over the move, but he said some consideration should be given to the current crisis faced by Slovakia.

Slovakia is dependent on Russian gas transited through Ukraine that has been shut off in a dispute over payments. dpa