Donald Trump has suffered a humiliating blow to his ambitions to annex Greenland and make it part of the US.
The American President has said the Arctic island is vital to US security and has tried to pressure Denmark to cede the territory to Washington.
He told reporters last week that he was confident of sealing the deal for Greenland, saying that its residents “want to be with us”.
However, a new poll carried out for a Danish daily newspaper showed that only a tiny minority of those surveyed supported becoming the 51st US state.
Just six percent said they were in favour, while a whopping 85% gave an unequivocal thumbs down to the proposal. Nine percent remain undecided.
The poll, carried out by Verian for the Berlingske newspaper, also showed that 45% viewed Trump’s interest in their island as a threat.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen welcomed the poll’s findings, although she suggested that the relationship between Copenhagen and Nuuk could change.
“I am pleased if the survey is an expression that many Greenlanders would like to see a continued close cooperation with Denmark,” she told the newspaper.
“Probably in a different form than what we know today, because everything changes over time.”
The Prime Minister also received the full backing of allies on Tuesday, after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO chief Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
France’s Foreign Minister also said EU troops could be deployed to Greenland to prevent any “foreign intervention”.
Jean-Noël Barrot said the idea had been raised with the Danish government but ruled out any immediate action.
In an interview, he told Sud Radio that the Arctic had become “a new field of conflict” at risk of “foreign interference.”
“There is very strong solidarity from European countries and they are ready to think [about troops deployment] if it came to that,” he said.
Greenland has a land mass larger than Mexico and has a population of 57,000. It has significant deposits of important natural resources, such as uranium, iron and rare earth minerals.
It is part of Denmark but was granted self-governing autonomy in 2009, with the right to declare independence through a referendum.
