ROME - The populist Italian government’s nomination of an eurosceptic, pro-Russian journalist, Marcello Foa to be president of Italy's venerable state-run broadcasting corporation RAI, the Italian BBC, set off a storm of protest Monday. Opposition parties underlined the right-wing scribe’s repeated appearance on pro-Russian media, his long spell as a correspondent in Moscow, and his stance against obligatory vaccinations.

 The choice of Mr Foa, 55, was announced by radical Five Star Movement (M5S) kingpin and deputy prime minister Luigi di Maio, saying it heralded a purge of “parasites” at the notoriously overmanned RAI packed with supporters of old Italian mainstream parties. The nomination reflects the pro-Russian policies of the government of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte who is expected to discuss Italy’s desire to lift sanctions against Moscow at an official meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington Monday, diplomatic sources say.   

League leader Matteo Salvini called for sanctions against EU to be lifted when he was in Moscow for World Cup this month while a Russian dissident senator, Dmitry Krivitskiy, was arrested on a Russian international warrant for alleged corruption  in northern Italy last Monday in a move seen as Italy currying favour with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 Mr Foa’s nomination has to be approved by a two-thirds majority of the 40-member Oversight Committee of RAI guaranteeing its independence. The League has five votes and M5S has 14, meaning  the outcome is in the hands of former prime minister Silvio Berluconi, whose Forza Italia party has seven votes. Berlusconi said “on Foa for the moment we vote no,” meaning he might support his candidature if offered a quid pro quo.

 Opposition Democratic Party politician Salvatore Margiotta said “I hope that Forza Italia will not decide to vote an unpresentable candidate with the government majority.”

 In 2016 Mr Foa commenting on Brexit on the M5S Youtube channel said “in my opinion Italy leaving the Euro is a hypothesis that should be considered very seriously to save the country in the long term

Mr Foa in the past repeatedly attacked Italian President Sergio Mattarella. When the head of state vetoed the appointment of Eurosceptic economist Paolo Savona as Economy Minister Foa wrote “for Mattarella M%S and League cannot govern because their ideas on Europe are unacceptable. So he should have the courage to outlaw both parties. Let’s try a dictatorship.”

 Mr Foa has described Putin as a leader “who does not look for trouble,” and cast doubt on the Russian president’s  involvement in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal at Salisbury.

 “Is he really responsible?” Foa tweeted, “something does not add up.”