Copenhagen – The vast majority of residents in Greenland I don’t want their island to be part of the United StatesAs planned by President Trump, according to a survey published on Wednesday. Mr. Trump, who returned to the White House at the end of January, reported that he wanted the Arctic island – which is supposed to contain large reserves of minerals and unexploited oil – be part of the United States and a suggested the possible use of force or prices to annex the Danish autonomous territory.
When they were asked if they wanted to be part of the United States, 85% of the Greenlanders said no, according to the survey published in the Danish Berlingske and the Sermitsiaq daily from Greenland.
6% of those questioned said that they were favorable and that 9% were undecided, according to the survey led by the Verian agency.
“It was the first survey that asked a representative section of the Greenland population and I think it is very important,” Kasper Moller Hansen, professor of political science at the University of Copenhagen, told AFP. . “I think this survey very clearly shows that they do not want to be American.”
About 45% of Greenlanders consider Mr. Trump’s interest in their island as a “threat”, while 43% consider it an “opportunity” and 13% are undecided, according to the survey.
The survey questioned 497 respondents aged 18 and over between January 22 to 26, and it had a margin of error between 1.9 and 4.4 percentage points.
Greenland has 57,000 inhabitants. Greenland officials, who depends strongly on Denmark for subsidies, have long been pressure for independence, but said they were open to business with the United States.
One day after Mr. Trump was sworn as president, the Prime Minister of Greenland Mute Egede insisted That the Greenlanders “do not want to be American”.
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Greenland, located in the northeast of Canada and largely covered by the Greenland ice cap, has a small population but is the largest island on the planet. In addition to the suspected natural resources, its location between the United States, Russia and Europe makes it strategic for economic and defense ends – in particular as melting sea ice Opens new shipping routes via the Arctic.
Greenland has also been the home for many years of the northernmer American military base.