This paper examines recent migration from three little-studied EU countries, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, focusing on young, early-career graduates who move to London. It looks at how these young migrants explain the reasons for their move, their work and living experiences in London, and their plans for the future, based on 78 interviews with individual migrants. The wide-ranging theoretical context draws on notions of core-periphery, youth transitions, ‘easy’ transnationalism, ‘liquid’ migration, and London as an ‘escalator’ region for career development. Also relevant in shaping these migration flows are EU accession in 2004 and the recent financial crisis. Findings indicate that these highly educated young adults from the EU’s north-eastern periphery migrate for a combination of economic, career, lifestyle and personal-development reasons. They are ambivalent about their futures and when, and whether, they will return-migrate
