EU condemns Russia over entry bans for officials hoping to attend Nemtsov funeral

People follow the coffin of Boris Nemtsov during a farewell ceremony at the Sakharov center in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 3, 2015. Mourners are lining up outside a Moscow human rights center for the funeral of murdered Nemtsov. a charismatic Russian opposition leader and sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin, who was gunned down on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 near the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) (The Associated Press)

Relatives and friends pay their last respects at the coffin of Boris Nemtsov, a charismatic Russian opposition leader and sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin, during a farewell ceremony inside the Sakharov's center in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 3, 2015. Mourners are lining up outside the Moscow human rights center for the funeral of murdered Nemtsov. Western officials have called for Russia to conduct a prompt, thorough, transparent and credible investigation into the slaying. Putin has ordered law enforcement chiefs to personally oversee the probe. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) (The Associated Press)

The European Union has strongly condemned Russia for banning Polish and Latvian officials from entering the country to attend slain Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov's funeral.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz has called it a "high affront" which will further set back relations with Moscow.

He said Tuesday he will intervene with Russian authorities "in the strongest terms and demand an official explanation." Latvia holds the rotating EU presidency. The European Commission, Latvia and Poland also joined the protest.

Schulz says that the Russian moves "are being applied without the slightest element of reasoning or any forewarning."

In the wake of the fighting in eastern Ukraine and Moscow's annexation last year of the Crimean Peninsula, the EU has imposed visa bans on 151 individuals, including several Russians.