The decree, which was adopted at a cabinet meeting late on Monday evening, gives Rome the legal right to expedite asylum applications and solidify Italy's definition of which countries outside the EU are considered safe.
This is a political countermove from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government after a court ruled on Friday that twelve migrants from Egypt and Bangladesh should be returned to Italy from Albania, which is not an EU country, in the asylum process.
In November last year, an agreement was reached between Italy and Albania that migrants caught by Italian vessels within the country's search and rescue area would be taken to Albania. There, they would be held pending a decision on asylum – with the exception of those considered vulnerable according to the law.
The agreement has, however, been affected by a recent EU court ruling stating that parts of countries outside the EU cannot be classified as safe unless the entire country is considered as such.
