85% of Greenlanders say no to US takeover: Poll

An opinion poll indicated on Tuesday that 85% of Greenlanders do not wish their Arctic island - a semi-autonomous Danish territory - to become a part of the United States, Danish daily Berlingske reported.

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, showed only 6% of Greenlanders are in favour of becoming part of the U.S., with 9% undecided, Berlingske said.

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.