“I am happy if the survey is an expression that many Greenlanders will be able to see continued close cooperation with Denmark,” Frederiksen said Tuesday. The survey was conducted by research company Verian for national newspaper Sermitsiaq in Greenland and media outlet Berlingske in Denmark.
Trump has called taking ownership of the Arctic island an “absolute necessity” and refused to rule out using military force or economic coercion to do so. He reportedly ramped up his threats in a fiery 45-minute phone call with Frederiksen earlier this month.
However, Trump has been repeatedly rebuffed by both Copenhagen and Nuuk, with the Danish prime minister embarking on a frantic diplomatic tour of European capitals Tuesday to shore up support.
While Frederiksen hopes to deepen ties with Greenland, a Danish territory since 1953 and a colony long before that, the island’s Prime Minister Múte Egede has called for independence from Denmark, hinting at holding a referendum this year in his New Year’s address.
“We don’t want to be Danes. We don’t want to be Americans. We want to be Greenlanders,” he told reporters earlier this month.
Verian’s poll of Greenlanders was based on web interviews conducted between Jan. 22 and 27 among 497 representatively selected citizens in Greenland over the age of 18.