The effects of the breakdown of negotiations between the International Monetary Fund and Hungary, which were visible on the country's monetary and financial markets, could become contagious for other countries in the region, warned Thomas Mirow, head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (in picture). The Hungarian currency forint went down 3 percent the day after the news broke on the IMF team going back to Washington without having reached an agreement with the Hungarian Government.

These countries can protect themselves against such effects, Mirow told German business daily Handelsblatt. He also expressed his confidence in an eventual understanding between Hungary and the IMF. "Broken up negotiations over billions in emergency credit for a heavily indebted country are no small thing in such a tense phase," he was quoted as saying.