Well I think you've touched on it, people asking for special treatment in relation to language protection, it always causes ill-will.

My own experience of it is from family in Canada. In Quebec the official language is French, only the majority anglophone towns get services in English. In Ontario the provincial government offers services to towns in French, where typically the town does not have a majority Francophone population...French is respected and it's much more bilingual.

Even in Wales, you get services in both Welsh and English...the only acrimony is that civil servants have to speak both languages (when we all know that Welsh speakers really can speak English..seriously..they can!).

I'm surprised that Belgium hasn't made more moves towards bilingualism. I know that Brussels is a sore point because it's the Francophone island ever-expanding into the Flemish suburbs, but as it is a centre for global institutions then I'm not surprised it's Francophone, probably in 50 years' time it will be Anglophone!

I know Flanders is rich at the moment, but that can change. Alberta subsidises the rest of Canada with oil revenues, and Scotland complains about the contributions that they make to the London Exchequer. The point is that it's supposed to be one country, and you work in the national interest, even if that means you send money off to another end of the country.

It's sad, because it feels like by appeasing the regions the central government has written its own death warrant. I'm not sure how viable two separate states would be. Maybe the Southern Netherlands will come back!
There's an interesting article in the economist today.