Brussels, Rabi'II 30, 1436, Feb 19, 2015, SPA -- The European Union is providing more funds to Italy and prolonging its Triton maritime mission until the end of the year to help the country cope with boatloads of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea, the bloc's executive said Thursday. "We cannot replace Italy in the management of the external borders, but we can lend a helping hand," EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said. "Italy is not alone. Europe stands with Italy." The move comes a week after a string of incidents in the Mediterranean believed to have left at least 300 migrants dead. The tragedies upped pressure on the EU to bolster search-and-rescue missions in the Mediterranean. Triton was launched by the EU border agency Frontex last year as a border-control mission. It partially replaced Italy's Mare Nostrum mission, which was phased out because Italy said it could not afford the mission on its own and following criticism that the operation was encouraging migrants to undertake the dangerous sea crossing. --SPA 22:02 LOCAL TIME 19:02 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w