An opinion poll by Danish daily Berlingske revealed Tuesday that 85% of Greenlanders oppose the idea of their Arctic island, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, becoming part of the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this month that Greenland was vital to U.S. security and Denmark should give up control of the strategically important island.
The survey by pollster Verian, commissioned by the Danish paper and Greenlandic daily Sermitsiaq, showed only 6% of Greenlanders are in favor of becoming part of the U.S., with 9% undecided.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday she had given full backing to the principle of maintaining respect for international borders, following meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
“I am pleased if the survey is an expression that many Greenlanders would like to see continued close cooperation with Denmark. Probably in a different form than what we know today, because everything changes over time,” she told Berlingske in response to the poll.
Denmark said Monday it would spend 14.6 billion crowns ($2.04 billion) on boosting its military presence in the Arctic.
Greenland – with a land mass larger than Mexico and a population of 57,000 – was granted broad self-governing autonomy in 2009, including the right to declare independence from Denmark through a referendum.
Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede, who has stepped up a push for independence, has repeatedly said the island is not for sale and that it is up to its people to decide their future.
The U.S. military has a permanent presence at the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a strategic location for its ballistic missile early-warning system, as the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the island.
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