A top European Union official has refused to be drawn on an opinion of an agreement between Italy and Albania to process some migrants in centers set up in the tiny Western Balkan country, saying only that it was being closely monitored.

Italy’s government has declared 19 countries safe for migrants as part of a new law designed to salvage its €670 million plan to process asylum seekers in Albania. In an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday night,

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government is pushing through new legislation to salvage its controversial plan to curb undocumented migration, after a court blocked a project to divert asylum seekers to Albania.

Italy's hard-right government passed a new law Monday to overcome legal opposition to a migrant deal with Albania, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni accused judges of political bias.