PARIS/ROME (Reuters) -French Prime Minister Michel Barnier said on Friday that the type of deal Italy has struck to divert asylum-seekers to Albania for processing would not likely be feasible in France.

Italian judges ruled Friday against the detention of the first migrants sent for processing in Albania, dealing a major blow to a flagship policy of Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has touted her plans to process migrants picked up in the Mediterranean Sea in Albania as a model for the rest of Europe. But a court in Rome blocked her scheme.

The Italian government vowed on Friday to push ahead with its contested plan to divert asylum-seekers abroad, saying it would appeal against a court's ruling that a group of migrants in reception centres in Albania should be taken to Italy.

The ruling was a major blow to the conservative government’s plan to have asylum claims heard in Albania instead of Italy.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's five-year deal to send migrants rescued at sea to camps in Albania for processing has been dealt a significant blow by the courts, only days after the first arrivals.

The first attempt at Italy's plan to process migrants in Albania has proved to be a failure. All 16 of the first cohort of asylum seekers are being returned to Italy following a court decision.