GETTY EU leaders dismissed the Cologne sex attacks as nothing to do with the refugee crisis

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Startling internal documents reveal that the European Commission (EC) believes the sickening attacks were a “matter of public order”. They also show the controversial EC hopes to be the “voice of reason” and dispel links between the growing migration crisis and the horrific sex attacks.

They fear the shocking wave of crimes committed by sex attack gangs in Cologne could undermine the “credibility” of the European project. The sickening list of crimes reported in the German city run to a staggering 821 complaints, and range from sexual assaults to gang rape. One attacker is alleged to have told police: “I am Syrian. You have to treat me kindly. Mrs Merkel invited me.”

GETTY German police patrol Cologne after a string of sex attacks in the city

The minutes document a presentation from Frans Timmermans, the first vice president of the EC and deputy to President Jean-Claude Juncker. It said: “As far as the crimes in Cologne were concerned, he said that these were a matter of public order and were not related to the refugee crisis. Officials stressed “the importance of the Commission continuing to play its coordinating role and sounding the voice of reason to defuse tensions and counter populist rhetoric.”

GETTY President Jean-Claude Juncker hopes the EU Commission will be the "voice of reason"

They called for “the unconditional rejection of false associations between certain criminal acts, such as the attacks on women in Cologne on New Year's Eve, and the mass influx of refugees”. The minutes added that “they agreed that they must “respond to the concerns of European citizens, particularly by stressing that Europe was also a union of security and values".

GETTY Cologne residents protest against the wave of sex attacks in the German city on New Year's Eve