RIGA, Aug 20 (LETA) - The number of attempts to illegally cross the Latvian-Belarussian border has declined in the past days, and the situation has stabilized, said State Border Guard representative Juris Kusins in an interview with the Latvian public radio on Friday.

The Border Guard on Thursday prevented just one person from illegally crossing the border.

On Wednesday, 11 people were pushed back, and on Tuesday - 46 people.

Since August 10, in total 475 people have been deterred from illegally crossing the Latvian-Belarussian border.

As reported, the government has declared a state of emergency at the Latvian-Belarusian border, authorizing the State Border Guard to use physical force in order to return illegal immigrants to the country from which they came.

Taking into consideration the steeply increasing numbers of illegal immigrants trying to cross into Latvia from Belarus, as well as the large number of illegal immigrants entering Lithuania from Belarus, the state of emergency will run from August 11 until November 10 in the following municipalities: Ludza Region, Kraslava Region, Augsdaugava Region, and the City of Daugavpils.