BRUSSELS FEBRUARY 16, 2016 (CISA) – The European Union is prepared to toughen economic sanctions on Burundi following the failure of talks to end a political crisis in the country in which more than 440 people have been killed. The statement added that those hampering a political solution could also be targeted. Last April President Pierre Nkurunziza, decision to stand for a third term triggered nine months of violence. He later refused to accept an African Union peacekeeping plan, saying it would amount to an invasion. Nearly a quarter of a million people have fled the violence in Burundi and a further 25,000 are displaced within the country, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.