Italy's Federica Mogherini to serve as new EU foreign policy chief

Italy's Federica Mogherini is set to serve as the new European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, world media report on Sunday night.

According to Reuters, the 41-year-old career politician, who became Italian foreign minister only in February, has been seen throughout her career as a politician who prefers to skirt controversy rather than take tough policy stands.

Cynics say her appointment at an EU summit on Saturday confirms that member states want to keep their own tight grip on foreign policy issues, much the same as they said when Catherine Ashton became the EU's first foreign policy chief in 2009, Reuters informs.

The governments in central and eastern Europe fear that she will be "too soft" on Russia, one of Italy's biggest energy suppliers and export markets.

"As we think and we work on the level of sanctions, we also have to keep the diplomatic way open ... hoping that the combination, a wise combination, can be effective," she said, while speaking about the EU policy towards Russia.