About us.

Our mission

Set up in 2022 in Brussels (Belgium), Bridge EU aims to provide strategic support to bridge the gap between recent human rights and social inclusion challenges and policies across Europe. The support may cover areas, but is not limited to, fundamental rights, social inclusion, employment, education, health, housing, disability rights, integration of migrants, Roma inclusion, integration of homeless people, etc.

We offer a new approach to human rights protection.

We focus on common challenges of people in need instead of isolating specific marginalised groups from each other and developing parallel policy measures. Certainly, the specific needs of some target groups should be part of the mainstream public policies and solutions.

We build informal networks of civil society organisations, international organisations, public authorities and private entities from across the EU to work on innovative and new solutions which might find their place in future policymaking. We aim to address the current challenges such as growing populism and racism, the evaporation of human rights, decreasing solidarity towards and among marginalised groups.

Our manifesto

Our statutes

Our team

Co-founder

Andor Urmos

Andor has over 20 years experience in national and EU public administration supporting the integration of marginalised groups and empowering grassroots organisations.

Andor graduated as a medical doctor and economist, after which he did a PhD in medical sociology. He was the Head of Roma Integration Department in Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour in Hungary (2002-2010). At the European Commission (2010-2021) he was responsible for the horizontal coordination of the European Regional Development Fund for social inclusion.

Andor is also the co-founder of Rights Association - a Romanian NGO established in 2022 dedicated to the protection and integration of Roma.

Project assistant

Hasna Belachqr

Hasna supports the implementation and coordination of Bridge EU’s projects. She holds an LL.M. in International and European Law from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and a Master’s in Conflict and Development from Ghent University.

Before joining Bridge EU, she gained experience at PICUM, a European network advocating for the social inclusion of undocumented people, where she contributed to research, policy development, and advocacy in the areas of migration enforcement, regularisation, and social rights.

Alongside her professional work, Hasna serves on the board of Assounah Community, a local mosque, where she oversees administration and develops initiatives to foster inclusion and empower women. She also served as Vice-President of Engage, a student association promoting dialogue and inclusion among students from diverse migration backgrounds.

Her work reflects a strong commitment to social justice, inclusion, and community building.

Consultant

Bruna Franco

Bruna has experience in EU advocacy and policy-making, research, project management, and EU funding, with a particular focus on EU affairs, human trafficking, migration, social inclusion and exploitation.

Internationally, Bruna's work with La Strada International, a European NGO platform against human trafficking, translates the ground-level experience of LSI's members, who provide direct support to victims, into EU advocacy, supporting research and international projects. She has also worked for various civil society organisations in Portugal, namely Rede de Portugueses em Organizações Internacionais and Resposta Luso, leading projects at the intersection of climate resilience, migration, social inclusion, health systems, and vulnerability.

Bruna holds an MSc in Political Science – European Politics and External Relations from the University of Amsterdam, graduating Cum Laude.

Co-founder

Louise Bonneau

Louise has 10 years of experience in EU advocacy and policy-making roles in the fields of social inclusion of marginalised people (e.g. persons with disabilities, people with a migrant and roma background, children), human rights, deinstitutionalisation, and EU funds.

She has worked for the European Commission and various civil society organisations (Hope and Homes for Children, Missing Children Europe and Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants).

Louise holds an MSc in Global Migration from University College London (2015) and a LLM in International Migration and Refugee Law (2016) from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Consultant

Arlind Puka

Arlind has 10 years of experience in EU affairs, EU-funded programmes and policy-making roles in the fields of the rule of law, human rights, EU enlargement and EU funding. He has extensive experience in developing EU-funded projects and supporting policy and institutional reform processes, particularly in the Western Balkans and the EU’s wider neighbourhood.

He has worked for the European Parliament, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the CEELI Institute, as well as with various European civil society organisations. He currently also works with the European Law Institute (ELI).

Arlind holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Sunderland, United Kingdom. His work and research interests focus on the rule of law, human rights and the EU enlargement process.