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 on Friday questioned the legitimacy of the "safe countries" list Italy uses to send migrants to Albania and fast-track their asylum claims, in a fresh blow to a key plank of the government's migration policy.

While ruling Italy's plan to fast-track migrant deportations is legal, the European Court of Justice set out some limits. Those include disclosing sources for their assessment of a country being considered "safe.