By Gergely Szakacs, Jason Hovet and Maria Martinez BUDAPEST/PRAGUE (Reuters) – The sickly state of the German economy is the next big challenge for the export-reliant countries of central Europe, which are still recovering from some of the world’s worst inflation spikes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Close trade ties with Germany and its once-mighty auto sector were for years a boon for the region since the collapse of communism. But now those ties risk becoming a drag on the economies of Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Already, some local companies reliant on ties with Germany ar…