New Year's Eve attacks in Cologne

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Twelve days after New Year's Eve the debate about the attacks in Cologne continues. Warning voices stress that the left in particular must not ignore the citizens' fears. Others call for Angela Merkel to resign to avoid putting Europe in danger.

Following the New Year's Eve attacks in Cologne allegations have been made that the authorities deliberately tried to hush up the fact that the perpetrators were refugees. Reports of similar incidents are now coming to light in other countries. Is this the beginning of a culture of silence?

In the wake of the mass sexual assaults on women on New Year's Eve, the coalition government in Berlin is discussing consequences such as tighter deportation regulations for criminal foreigners this Monday. Some commentators advise the German government to stick to its level-headed migration policy. Others accuse Merkel of sparking an invasion and jeopardising European cohesion."

The police in Cologne have received more than 100 complaints from women who claim to have been robbed and sexually assaulted by men of "Arab or North African appearance" on New Year's Eve. Some commentators blame German Chancellor Merkel's liberal immigration policy for the attacks. For others the sudden rush of concern about women's safety is just a cover for racism.