The populist Italian government’s nomination of an eurosceptic, pro-Russian journalist to be president of Italy's venerable state-run broadcasting corporation RAI, the Italian BBC, set off a storm of protest on Sunday.

Opposition parties pointed to Marcello Foa'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 RAI, is 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 a meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday.

League leader Matteo Salvini called for EU sanctions against Russia to be lifted when he was in Moscow for the 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.