NATO members on Wednesday elected Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the Alliance’s new Secretary General, succeeding Jens Stoltenberg.

“Rutte will take up his duties as Secretary General on 1 October, when Stoltenberg’s term ends after ten years at the helm of the Alliance,” NATO said in a statement.

Rutte was chosen for the post after Romanian President Klaus Iohannis announced last week that he was withdrawing from the race because he did not have enough support from NATO countries.

Rutte’s appointment was voted on by ambassadors from the 32-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organisation during a meeting at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.