Greenlanders overwhelmingly oppose becoming part of the United States, poll shows

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -An opinion poll indicated that 85% of Greenlanders do not wish their Arctic island - a semi-autonomous Danish territory - to become a part of the United States, with nearly half saying they see interest by U.S. President Donald Trump as a threat.

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 newspaper Berlingske and Greenlandic daily Sermitsiaq, showed only 6% of Greenlanders are in favour of their island becoming part of the U.S., with 9% undecided.

The poll showed that 45% viewed Trump's interest in Greenland as a threat, with 43% saying they see it as an opportunity, leaving 13% undecided.

Greenland enjoys many of the same welfare benefits as Denmark such as universal healthcare and free education.

Only 8% of those polled said they would be willing to change their Danish citizenship to American, 55% said they would prefer to be Danish citizens, and 37% were undecided.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on 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 chief Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

"I am pleased if the survey is an expression that many Greenlanders would like to see a 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 on 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.

($1 = 7.1545 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm and Isabelle Yr Carlsson in CopenhagenEditing by Sandra Maler, Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Christina Fincher)