EU Extends Italian Coastal Border-Control Mission Until End of 2015
„BRUSSELS – The European Union’s executive said it would extend its joint coastal border control mission with Italy until the end of 2015 and could beef up the operation in other ways, as Italy struggles with a surge of migrants fleeing Libya.
The European Commission offered an extra €13.7 million in emergency migration funding for Italy on Thursday and said it was ready to react quickly to any Italian request to increase the resources of the mission, known as Triton. Officials said the bloc could also reconsider the scope of the operation.
Several hundred migrants are believed to have died this month as they attempted to sail to Italy, marking one of the largest losses of migrants’ lives as they attempted the treacherous Mediterranean crossing from Libya.
The Triton mission was originally intended to run for just a few months. But Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had been pressing for more assistance from Italy’s EU neighbors. The EU has already earmarked more than €500 million ($568 million) to help Italy cope with migration pressures in its 2014-2020 budget. […]“