A ruling by the EU's top court has dealt a further blow to Italy's attempts to create a fast-track system in Albania for processing asylum applications offshore.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has criticized Friday's European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on the classification of safe countries of origin. She said the decision further restricted the already limited room for manoeuvre of governments.

Europe's top court questioned the legitimacy of the "safe countries" list Italy uses to send migrants to Albania.