RIGA, Oct 18 (LETA) - Border guards prevented 20 people from illegally entering Latvia from Belarus on Sunday, the State Border Guard informed LETA.

Since August 10, a total of 1,770 persons have been stopped from illegally crossing from Belarus into Latvia.

In the past 24 hours nobody was detained for illegally crossing the border.

Since a state of emergency was declared in regions at the Latvian-Belarusian border on August 11, 50 illegal immigrants have been allowed to enter Latvia for humanitarian reasons, and 402 people have been detained for illegal border crossing.

As reported, taking into consideration the steeply increasing numbers of illegal immigrants trying to cross into Latvia from Belarus, the government has declared a state of emergency that will run from August 11 until November 10 in the following municipalities: Ludza Region, Kraslava Region, Augsdaugava Region, and the City of Daugavpils.

Latvian authorities consider attempts by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's regime to push migrants across Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish borders are methods of hybrid warfare targeting these countries.