@espyeen Can only reply with my own personal experiences, standard disclaimer, no idea how transferable these are, I moved here ten years ago, etc etc

I'm an English speaker and moved to Helsinki, and have had steady work in programming the whole time. So far what's worked is looking for international companies, or bigger companies. Anything that has an office in multiple countries is probably going to either use English as their official business language, or be fine working with people who do.

...also, trying to get an interview, let alone a position, while not being physically present in the country sucks *ass*, and is gonna just take a lot of perseverance. It took me something like six months of sending job apps constantly, and that was when the market was good. Stick with it.

@espyeen often citizenship/work authorization not requiring visa sponsorship is the hardest part, the bad part is.. the other parts are also all v hard.

One way some people manage to work for US companies is companies that are willing to keep you on (or hire directly, if you don't already work there) via an employer of record company. I am employed under one in Canada; my US employer was willing to jump through some hoops when we immigrated in order to keep me on. Now I get my actual checks/paystubs/benefits/tax withholdings via the employer of record, which also handles making sure my job is compliant with local labor laws, and from the US company's side, I'm on their books as a contractor through the employer of record contract.

For folks who aren't already in a job you can convince to let you move under this setup, looking for jobs advertising themselves as not caring where you live (worldwide remote, not just remote-in-specific-country) can be a way in.

@espyeen If you have citizenship, at least one HUGE hurdle has been removed - you can go and live in any EU country without asking for permission. And a few others without too much trouble - such as Switzerland. You can travel between them without asking for permission. Not only that, in an EU country you may even be eligible for unemployment benefits while you find a job, though there will be a waiting period. The social safety net is pretty good generally, especially medical.

English as a common language is definitely a thing, especially in IT, though it depends on the country a bit. The romance language groups are less forgiving, the Germanics more so :-) Speaking/writing English in IT is generally a firm requirement. Not speaking the local language makes social aspects harder.

@espyeen I had luck with Germany with a fairly fringe toolset in software development. But it's a small company and though practically everyone speaks English, it does seem to be very much preferred that our main language remain German — I thankfully also speak that, but it's atrocious compared to my English (okay okay, I can hold a conversation in it). I'm not entirely sure how much this is a German thing (they do really like everything being very theirs and very local :D) or how it's just these guys, but it is how it is.

Otherwise I can only echo what others already said: Not having to worry about work visa is one huge benefit you have with being an EU citizen, and English, especially in IT, should often be enough, especially at larger and/or international companies. Even where they list some other language, it might be worth engaging with them and see just how strongly they want that. Maybe some of them will be fine with you not speaking, I dunno, Latvian :D Living in the new country and dealing with their bureaucracy might be quite challenging though.

I'll add Malta to Vinh's list of English-speaking countries, and that the Netherlands and most of the Nordics have very good English proficiency.