(AFP) - French President Francois Hollande warned Monday that European countries that vote populists into power will experience a fall in jobs, investment and exports as they advocate exit from the EU.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (R) and French President Francois Hollande give a joint press conference at the Centre Pompidou during a Spanish-Franco summit in Malaga, on February 20, 2017 (Photo: AFP)

Speaking at a summit in the southern Spanish city of Malaga with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy, Hollande said that nationalists not only threatened Europe but also "the interests of the nations they claim to represent."

His comments come as France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands’s rightwing Freedom Party ride high in polls ahead of upcoming elections in their respective countries.