At a press conference on Wednesday, Milanovic, who is in the middle of a dispute with the country's prime minister Andrei Plenkovic, said that Croatia should follow Turkey's example and say no to the application to bring about political change.
More precisely, he wants to change the electoral laws in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, so that Bosnian Croats can more easily be elected to leading positions.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously said he will not vote for a Swedish membership in NATO, and on Wednesday he reiterated, among other things, accusations that Sweden protects members of terrorist Kurdish PKK.
The role of the President in Croatia is largely ceremonial and it is Parliament that has the real power in the matter.
Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman tweeted on Wednesday that he welcomes Sweden's and Finland's NATO application.
"They are our close partners, we share values and their entry will contribute to our military alliance," he writes.