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Cologne (dpa) - Five years after the events on New Year's Eve in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Armin Laschet asked the victims for forgiveness.
The women were left in the lurch by the state, said the CDU politician in a guest article for the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" (Tuesday edition).
It is "our duty" to ask the victims' forgiveness that the state did not protect them that night - regardless of who was politically responsible at the time, "Laschet writes.
On New Year's Eve 2015/2016, a crowd had formed in front of Cologne Cathedral.
Numerous women had been sexually assaulted and robbed from it.
According to the public prosecutor's office in Cologne, the majority of the accused came from Algeria and Morocco.
The events in Cologne made headlines around the world.
Laschet had already spoken of blatant omissions in the past and now repeated this criticism in his contribution.
“Five years ago, 661 women in Cologne experienced a nightmare, and many of them are still suffering from the consequences today.
661 women were abandoned by the state that night. "
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Laschet, who was not in office at the time, laments that there have been only 36 convictions in more than 1200 reports and only three men have been convicted of sexual offenses.
Until 2017, the SPD and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen had ruled in North Rhine-Westphalia - with Hannelore Kraft as Prime Minister.