Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) — Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti warnedof a potential breakup of Europe without greater urgency in effortsto lower government borrowing costs, as a stand-off over EuropeanCentral Bank help for Italy and Spain hardened.

Monti, in an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel magazinepublished yesterday, said that disagreements within the 17- nationeuro area are detracting from the policy response to the debtcrisis and undermining the future of the European Union.

“The tensions that have accompanied the euro zone in the pastyears are already showing signs of a psychological dissolution ofEurope,” Monti told Der Spiegel. While he backed the ECB'swillingness to address “severe malfunctioning” in the governmentbond market, Monti said the problems “have to be solved quickly nowso that there's no further uncertainty about the euro zone'sability to overcome the crisis.”