Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has defended her approach to migration despite the growing number of European countries seeking to return so-called "secondary migrants" to Italy.
The new EU Asylum and Migration Pact (GEAS) represents "a positive turning point" for Italy, the right-wing leader wrote on social media on Friday.
She claimed that Italy could even benefit from the rules, which came into force in June.
Under the Dublin rules, every migrant must apply for asylum in the EU country they first entered.
Several EU member states want to start returning asylum seekers who entered the EU via Italy and subsequently travelled on within the bloc.
Tensions recently flared between Italy and Germany over the planned return of a migrant who arrived on the island of Lampedusa in March and then travelled on to Germany. Italy refused to accept her.
Meloni said the new rules "provide significantly stronger protection for the countries of first entry regarding asylum applications."
One of the aims of the Asylum and Migration Pact is to distribute the burdens of migration more fairly across the EU. It provides for financial support for the countries of first arrival.
The announcement by several countries that they intend to return so-called 'secondary migrants' to Italy has sparked criticism of Meloni's actions.
Opposition leader Elly Schlein of the social-democratic PD described the latest development as a "flagrant boomerang," a reference to Italy's introduction of border controls with Spain following the influx of tens of thousands of migrants into the Spanish North African exclave of Ceuta.