France's Bardella compares criticism of proposed budget to early doubts around Meloni

By Victoria Waldersee MADRID, Oct 13 (Reuters) — French far-right leader Jordan Bardella on Tuesday compared criticism of his National Rally party's proposed budget to the doubts directed at Giorgia Meloni before she became prime minister of Italy, adding the "biggest danger" to France was to stay on its current economic course. Speaking at a forum in Madrid alongside the leader of Spanish far-right party Vox, Santiago Abascal, Bardella said his party carried no responsibility for France's current economic dilemmas and was confident its proposal would reactivate the French economy. National Rally's budget plan, presented last week, pledges to cut public spending by €140 billion, bring the budget deficit below 3% of GDP by 2030, reduce debt from about 121% of GDP to 112% by 2032, and enshrine budget discipline in France's constitution. The plan has been criticised heavily both by the National Rally's political opponents and economists who questioned the viability of proposed savings. "The criticism... is the same that they directed at Giorgia Meloni, saying the Italian economy will be a disaster. Now those same advisors see Meloni as the new Angela Merkel of Europe," Bardella said,