Asylum seekers from those countries will have their applications processed via a so-called fast track before they can be rejected.
The list includes Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia, as well as all EU candidate countries, except those in armed conflict. The aim is to speed up the processing.
Shortly afterwards, rules on safe third countries were approved. This means that asylum seekers can be rejected without examination if they have connections to, have travelled through or can be transferred to a third country - provided there are bilateral or EU-level agreements with that country.
The laws are seen as a victory for right-wing and far-right parties and will come into effect in June.
Corrected: An earlier version of the text contained incorrect information about when asylum seekers can be sent back to safe countries of origin.
