It was on Friday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan first expressed his skepticism about allowing Sweden and Finland to join NATO.
Erdogan then accuses Sweden of being a refuge for terrorist organizations.
According to Ann Linde, there had previously been no official statements in which the country opposed Swedish membership.
On Monday, Erdogan went on to say that he does not intend to allow countries into NATO that have imposed sanctions on Turkey.
Niinistö surprised
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö also says that he is surprised by the opposition shown by Turkey.
- I had a telephone conversation with President Erdogan in early April.
It was clear that he supports Finnish membership.
Now it looks like there are other opinions, says Niinistö during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson in Stockholm
Andersson: "We are looking for contact"
However, the President of Finland says he is hopeful of finding a solution.
Both Finland and Sweden are ready for talks with Turkey.
- We are looking for contact with Turkey and are ready to have a dialogue at different levels and also of course travel to Turkey, says Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and continues:
- We look forward to having a bilateral dialogue with Turkey.