Paolo Gentiloni, a centre-left politician and former communications minister, will be Italy's new foreign minister, ANSA news agency reported Friday citing sources.
Gentiloni, 59, will be probably sworn in later in the day to replace Federica Mogherini, who quit the post as she is set to become Saturday the European Union's (EU) new high representative for foreign affairs and security policy.
A senior member of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party (PD), Gentiloni was communications minister in the government of former Prime Minister Romano Prodi from 2006 to 2008, a Xinhua report said.
Gentiloni has a degree in political sciences and used to work as a professional journalist. In 2001, he was elected member of parliament's lower chamber and in 2005 he was appointed as chairman of State television RAI supervisory board.