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Top eurocrats delivered a withering assessment of those attacking the pact, accusing them of being keyboard warriors who had no serious solutions to Europes refugee crisis.

The unusually pointed rebuke came amid speculation that the deal could be close to collapse, with the increasingly authoritarian and erratic Turkish president Recep Erdogan having repeatedly threatened to ditch it.

Ankaras actions have alarmed senior EU officials in recent weeks and months, especially in terms of its crackdowns on free speech and human rights, but they are still determined to keep the agreement in place.

That is because it has been a resounding success in terms of reducing the numbers of new arrivals entering struggling Greece by a whopping 98 per cent in the space of a year.

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Statistics from the UNCHR show that in the first three months of 2016 a massive 151,452 people made it to Greece on rafts from Turkey, but by the same period this year that number had dropped to just 2,813.

And today, despite all its trials and tribulations, top eurocrats continued to hail the pact as a game-changer and said it had saved countless lives by dissuading millions from making the dangerous sea crossing.

EU Commission chief spokesman Margaritis Chinas told a briefing in Brussels: The EU-Turkey statement was a game-changer which allowed us to break the cruel business model of smugglers exploiting human misery and putting peoples lives in danger.

We hear many voices criticising the agreement, but we hear none providing viable alternatives that would have saved as many lives.

EU Commission chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas

He added: We hear many voices criticising the agreement, but we hear none providing viable alternatives that would have saved as many lives.

Yes, implementation continues to be challenging. But whilst others are running social media campaigns, we together with our member states are busy working day in and day out improving the situation on the ground.

Senior EU figures have become increasingly defensive of the accord in recent weeks in light of a series of ever more provocative statements from Turkey over its future.

Last week Ankaras interior minister threatened to scrap the deal and allow 15,000 refugees through to Europe every month if European countries did not back down over a ban on pro-Erdogan rallies.

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A young boy cries at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni

Under the terms of the agreement, all economic migrants arriving in Greece are sent back across the Aegean, with the EU taking one Syrian refugee from a camp in Turkey for every person returned.

And EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned: It is not in Turkeys interests to have smuggling rings and bandits in charge along its coast.

Operating in cahoots with bandits is not in the travel guide of a candidate country.

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Put up or shut up! Brussels blasts 'keyboard warrior critics' of EU-Turkey migrant deal - Express.co.uk